Chrysler Brand Chips In as FCA Posts Strong June in U.S.
Jeep’s best June ever, plus a strong showing from Chrysler’s 200 model, helped offset dips at Ram and FCA’s other brands.
Jeep continues to carry the day for FCA US, but the Chrysler brand, driven by the solid performance of its 200 compact sedan, also chipped in to what the automaker says was its best June sales performance since 2006.
Overall, FCA light-vehicle deliveries rose 3.7% daily (25 selling days this year and 24 in 2014) to a total of 184,027 units. Give most of the credit for the automaker’s nearly 14,000-unit gain in volume to its Jeep marque, which boosted sales 20.5% to 71,529 vehicles.
That marks the brand’s best June ever and 21st straight month of year-over-year gains, FCA says. Wrangler, Cherokee and Patriot all recorded their best sales ever, and FCA says it is just now reaching a full pipeline with its new entry-level Renegade (4,858 units) model.
But some credit for FCA’s overall performance goes to Chrysler, which saw sales jump 23.1% on a 142.6% gain for the 200. The flagship 300 chipped in with a 6.7% uptick, helping offset the 39.4% plunge in Town & Country minivan sales.
The Ram truck brand fell into negative territory for June, down 2.4% daily to 35,070, with fullsize-pickup sales showing some softening, down 4.2%.
Continued laggards in the group were the Fiat and Dodge brands, off 32.7% and 17.1%, respectively. Fiat sold 324 copies of its 500X CUV, and FCA says it only now is beginning to have sufficient supplies of the new model on dealer lots, suggesting better things are in store for coming months.
Only three models were in positive territory for the Dodge brand, including the Journey, up 26.7%, a spike likely the result of discounting and possibly fleet deliveries (FCA does not report its fleet sales). Challenger sales, up 50.1%, also continued strong in June, and the low-volume Viper spiked 65.3% to 62 units.
“June represented another strong month for our company…our 63rd-consecutive month of year-over-year sales increases,” Reid Bigland, head of U.S. sales says in a statement.
FCA says it ended the month with a 78-day supply of inventory on 577,522 cars and trucks.
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