1st quarter looks bright for Chrysler, GM; not so hot at Ford

Finally unfettered by its distracting dance with Kirk Kerkorian, Chrysler Corp. appears headed for a very profitable first quarter, perhaps as good as its best-ever '94 first quarter of $938 million. Analysts' estimates for Chrysler average $2.28 per share, according to Zack's Investor Services. That's well above last year's $1.48 per share. The big reason: despite scaling back from initial production schedules, Chrysler still will build 9% more vehicles than it did in last year's first quarter. And if current trends continue, k will make twice as many pickups, sport/utilities and minivans as passenger cars in its U.S. plants. in contrast, schedules at both General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. will run about 11% below year-ago levels. The average Wall Street projection for GM is $2.20 per share, down slightly from $2.51 a year earlier. Meanwhile, Ford's average first-quarter forecast is 56 cents per share, or roughly half of last year's $1.28 per share. Launch costs for the F-series pickup and the unforeseen $600 rebates on most of its passenger cars are the main culprits.