Chrysler Expected to Post 4th-Quarter Loss

Chrysler Corp., which is retrenching in the face of a slumping and bruisingly competitive auto market, is expected to report a large loss for the fourth quarter, the first since 1982, industry analysts say.

They say Chrysler’s poor performance underscores the dreary state of the U.S. auto industry in 1989, a year in which sales were strong for much of the period but then collapsed.

They said Chrysler could report a loss of as much as $280 million, or about $1.20 a share, in the final three months of 1989, due mainly to more than $300 million in writeoffs from staff cutbacks and a plant closing.