HispanicBusiness

Chrysler Group said Monday that its first quarter net income dropped 65 per cent to 166 million dollars, compared to the same period last year.

Revenues for the quarter fell 6 per cent to 15.4 billion dollars, the Michigan-based car maker said.

Sergio Marchionne, chief executive of both Chrysler and its majority own, Italy's Fiat, has been relying on Chrysler and its US sales gains to help offset Fiat's losses in Europe, Bloomberg news service reported.

"We need to clean up our act and move it on from here," Marchionne said on a call with analysts. "We will get better as we move through 2013."

Chrysler's sales in its home market were up 21 per cent to 1.65 million vehicles.

Chrysler filed for bankruptcy reorganization in 2009, and emerged under ownership of the United Auto Workers pension fund, Fiat and the US and Canadian governments. Fiat has since acquired the other parties' shares to take control of the company.