DETROIT – Chrysler Group LLC today was assigned credit ratings below investment grade, and below its Detroit competitors Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Co.

Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services issued a B+ credit rating a day after the automaker reported its first quarterly profit since emerging from bankruptcy in June 2009, Automotive News reported.

Moody’s Investors Service Inc. assigned a B2 rating, adding that the outlook for the suburban Detroit automaker is positive.

Ford and GM have BB- ratings from S&P.

“The preliminary corporate credit rating reflects our assessment of Chrysler’s business risk profile as weak and its financial risk profile as aggressive,” said S&P credit analyst Robert Schulz in a statement.

Schulz wrote that he believes Chrysler’s automotive operations will remain profitable if industry light-vehicle sales stay above 12 million units.

Chrysler is taking steps to repay $7.6 billion in bailout loans from the U.S. government and the federal and provincial governments of Canada. On Monday, the automaker said it would borrow $3.5 billion in a senior secured six-year term loan and $2.5 billion in secured bonds that will have eight- and 10-year maturities.

Today, Moody’s assigned Chrysler’s credit facilities a Ba2 rating, citing expectations that Chrysler’s continued alliance with Fiat will boost its operating performance, vehicle portfolio and financial results.

“Ongoing cooperation between Chrysler and Fiat in the areas of purchasing, product development, platform sharing and international distribution could support further improvement in Chrysler’s operating and financial position beyond 2011,” Moody’s said in a statement today.

Fiat has a Ba1 rating from the investor services firm.

Chrysler plans to use the term loan, bonds and $1.27 billion in cash from Fiat to refinance its government loans during the second quarter. The contribution from Fiat will allow the Italian automaker to raise its stake in Chrysler to 46 percent.

A refinancing deal would bolster Chrysler’s balance sheet, making it more attractive for an initial public stock offering. The deal also paves the way for Fiat to take majority control (51 percent) of the U.S. automaker, which analysts say could come later this year.

In February, S&P lowered its corporate credit rating on Fiat to BB from BB+ and warned it could further drop the investment grade if Fiat acquires a majority stake in Chrysler this year.

General Motors Co.’s initial public offering last week may help the largest U.S. automaker get consideration from car and truck buyers, according to Moody’s Investors Service.

“U.S. consumers who don’t know anything about over- allocation options or the need for strong liquidity in a cyclical industry knew that something exceptionally good happened to GM last week,” Bruce Clark, an analyst, wrote today in a research note. “That knowledge makes it more likely that they will consider buying a GM vehicle and possibly buy one. That’s good for the company’s credit quality.”

The financial benefits of the IPO, which raised more than $20 billion selling common and preferred stock, were “largely anticipated and are already reflected in the company’s rating,” Clark wrote.

Moody’s assigned GM a Ba2 rating, the second level below investment grade, on Oct. 11. New York-based Moody’s said it has a stable outlook on the Detroit-based automaker.

Deliveries by GM in the U.S. rose 6.6 percent to 1.82 million vehicles through October, compared with an 11 percent gain for the industry, according to researcher Autodata Corp. in Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey. Sales of cars and trucks by Chevrolet, GM’s volume brand, increased 18 percent, helped by the Silverado pickup and Equinox sport-utility vehicle.

DETROIT – Ford Motor Co.’s credit rating was raised two levels by Moody’s Investors Service, which said the automaker’s operating performance “significantly exceeded” expectations, Bloomberg reported.

The upgrade in Ford’s corporate family rating to Ba2 from B1 is the fifth Moody’s has given the automaker in the last 13 months. Ford, which has $27.3 billion in automotive debt, remains two levels below investment grade. Moody’s said it has a stable outlook on Ford’s debt and its finance subsidiary, Ford Motor Credit Co.

“The company is well positioned to continue generating strong earnings and cash flow through 2011, and to further strengthen its balance sheet,” J. Bruce Clark, Moody’s senior vice president, said in a statement. “At the same time that the industry’s business practices have become more disciplined, Ford is coming to market with an exceptionally strong product portfolio.”

Returning to investment grade, which Ford slipped out of in 2005, has become “a rallying cry within the company,” Chief Financial Officer Lewis Booth said last month. Ford paid down debt by $7 billion in the second quarter. It continues to have larger obligations than General Motors Co., which had its balance sheet cleansed in bankruptcy last year.

Ford is the only major U.S. automaker that didn’t seek bankruptcy protection with the help of the U.S. government in 2009.

TOKYO – Toyota Motor Corp.’s credit rating was cut today by Moody’s Investors Service, and Fitch Ratings said it may also downgrade the world’s biggest carmaker as recalls of more than 8 million vehicles ravage profit, Bloomberg reported.

The rating was reduced to Aa2, the third-highest grade, from Aa1, according to a statement from Moody’s, which stripped Toyota of the top Aaa rating last year. Fitch will examine the company’s creditworthiness and a downgrade is a “possibility,’ senior analyst Jeong Min Pak said in an interview.

Toyota faces at least 180 consumer and shareholder lawsuits stemming from recalls due to unintended acceleration and may suffer $2 billion in lost sales and warranty repairs. The company recalled its Lexus GX 460 SUV and agreed to pay a record $16.4 million U.S. fine this month, further tarnishing its reputation for safety under President Akio Toyoda.

Increased costs related to the recalls “will hurt Toyota down the road,” said Pearlyn Wong, an investment analyst in Singapore at Bank Julius Baer Co., which manages about $350 billion worldwide. “Litigation costs are very hard to model.”

Toyota faces a “material risk” that its operating profit margin will remain well below what is appropriate for its rating “until 2012 at the earliest and possibly beyond,” Moody’s analyst Tadashi Usui wrote.

Fitch will examine Toyota “closely” in the next six months, said Jeong Min Pak, a senior director at the company, by phone from Seoul.

Separately, Moody’s also downgraded Denso Corp.’s credit rating to Aa3 from Aa2. Denso, which is 22.54 percent owned by Toyota, produces electronic and other parts for automobiles.