Chrysler reports quarterly loss

Chrysler Group saw big sales gains in the first quarter but its results were overshadowed by charges related to its merger with Italian automaker Fiat. Chrysler lost $690 million in the January-march quarter. Without one-time charges related to the merger, the company’s net profit more than doubled to $486 million. Revenue rose 23 percent to $19 billion. Chrysler’s global vehicle sales rose 10 percent to 621,000, while in the United States, the company’s biggest market, Chrysler sales jumped 11 percent, far outpacing the 1 percent average gain for the industry. In January, Fiat paid $3.65 billion to a union-run healthcare trust to acquire Chrysler’s remaining shares. Under the deal, Chrysler agreed to pay $700 million to upgrade its factories, and the company took a $672 million first-quarter charge to meet the commitments.