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The timing could be better.

Less than two weeks into national contract bargaining with the United Auto Workers, Detroit’s automakers each confirm a profit-margin bonanza that is likely to sharpen union pitches to share the wealth — chiefly because there’s so much of it.

General Motors Co. delivered a blistering 10.5 percent margin in North America. Ford Motor Co. topped 11 percent. And, Thursday, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV reported margins of 7.7 percent, reaching targets it officially did not expect to hit for several more years.

“We need to be very careful not to fall in love with these numbers in terms of what the machine can do at all times,” CEO Sergio Marchionne cautioned analysts in a call from London. “The objective for us is to close that gap” separating FCA from GM and Ford “and close it as quickly as we can.”



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UAW Negotiators Ready To Seize A Cut Of Record Automaker Profits

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