U.S. automaker Chrysler Group LLC on Thursday reported 473 million U.S. dollars of net income for the first quarter, more than four times of the level for the same period of 2011.

It was Chrysler's best quarterly profit since 1999, and a whopping 308-percent increase year on year. Chrysler posted a quarterly net income of 116 million dollars in the first quarter of last year.

According to Chrysler, the sharp increase in profit was mainly due to a 40-percent jump in U.S. sales. The company's U.S. market share rose to 11.2 percent in the first quarter from 9.2 percent the year before.

Chrysler also showed strong gains in revenue growth, posting 16. 4 billion dollars of net revenue in the first quarter, an increase of 25 percent compared to 13.1 billion a year ago.

Meanwhile, the company more than halved its net industrial debt, from 2.9 billion dollars four months ago to a current total of 1.3 billion. In the first quarter of 2011, that debt was 3.4 billion dollars.

Chrysler also said that it continues to eye global growth, and that worldwide vehicle sales in the first quarter were up 33 percent from one year ago, now totaling 523,000 units.

The automaker hailed the first-quarter milestone as evidence of its strong recovery since partnering with Fiat after the 2009 U.S. auto bailout, adding that it is focused on continued growth in the future.

"Another positive quarter -- built on sales gains that have surpassed the industry average -- is affirmation that the Chrysler team is maintaining its focus," Sergio Marchionne, chairman and CEO of Chrysler Group LLC, said in a statement.

In March, all of the "Big Three" U.S. automakers, also including Ford and GM, posted solid sales gains. Chrysler's March sales rose 34 percent over the same period of last year, while General Motors and Ford posted 12-percent and 5-percent gains, respectively.