Chrysler Earnings Down 24.4%

Chrysler Corp. said today that its first-quarter earnings fell 24.4% from a year ago, a drop Chairman Lee Iacocca blamed on buyer incentives and lost production.

In the first three months of 1987, the No. 3 domestic auto maker earned $269.7 million, or $1.24 per share, down from $356.9 million, or $1.57 a share, in the first quarter of 1986. Iacocca said Chrysler spent heavily to offer extended warranties and other buyer incentives. Chrysler’s sales in the first quarter were hurt by the dwindling supplies of the popular Omni-Horizon America series subcompacts, which lost their home when Chrysler began retooling its Belvidere, Ill., assembly plant for a new full-size luxury car line.