America’s ‘Big Three’ carmakers, located in the ancestral home of the mass-produced automobile - Detroit, Michigan - have had a hard time over the past several years, and especially the last several months. All have reported losses in the billions at some point, with sales dropping precipitously - by as much as 25% in a single month - thanks to outdated lineups and a lack of fuel-conscious small cars. Chrysler’s report of a $515 million lost for the first quarter doesn’t provide much hope that things are soon to change, but it’s not as bad as rival Ford’s $8.7 billion second quarter loss.

The latest result represents the financials for both Chrysler and its finance arm, and comes in response to comments from former parent company Daimler AG.

Daimler and Chrysler fighting it out over accounting standards
The German giant said it had lost about $585 million from its 19.9% share in Chrysler during the first quarter of the year based on European accounting standards, but Chrysler insists that this figure is only about $103 million using American standards.

Because Daimler still owns about one-fifth of Chrysler, it’s a reasonable estimate that Chrysler’s total loss for the quarter is five-times that figure, or roughly $515 million when converted based on currency values as of March 31, Chrysler spokeswoman Shawn Morgan told The Detroit News.

Chrysler is currently a private company and is under no obligation to reveal its financials, but company officials stated that losses last year amounted to more than $1.6 billion in total.

Chrysler’s financial operations close the door on lease financing
In a late-breaking development, Chrysler revealed to its dealers in a conference call on Friday afternoon that it would no longer be able to underwrite leases through its financial division. Instead, dealerships wishing to offer leases to customers would have to look to private banks for such financing.

This was not well-received by dealers, since most private banks are not commonly in the practice of securing such loans. Likewise, the generally poor U.S. economy makes such business risky. With the already weak positions of many banks, the move may mean very few if any Dodge, Jeep or Chrysler-brand vehicles will be leased after August 1, the day the policy goes into effect.

In a strange turn of events, however, the company has decided to offer special cash-back lease incentives through the end of July, encouraging customers to take up leases. In addition to the lease offers, however, the company is also offering U.S. customers special 0% financing offers on long-term loan agreements.

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