Chrysler CEO Predicts $1.6B Loss This Year

Chrysler will be screeching toward a second consecutive year in the red, sources told the Wall Street Journal, as the automaker will lose $1.6 billion. CEO Robert Nardelli told designers and engineers this week that while the beleaguered automaker’s revenue was about $63 billion, costs exceeded $64 billion. The newly private company no longer must report earnings publicly.

In 2006, Chrysler also sped away in the red, reporting losses of $1.4 billion. Consumers have steered away from auto showrooms after home value declines and the credit market turmoil, and Chrysler, with its gas-guzzling fleet of vehicles, was hit particularly hard by higher gas prices. But Nardelli vows to cut jobs and production shifts to improve the company’s performance. (More Chrysler stories.)