FCA’s Sales Continue to Suffer Amid Product Churn

FCA US sales dipped 5% in March in both daily sales and year-over-year volume as inventory of outgoing Jeep Compass and Patriot plays out and production of the all-new ’17 Compass slowly ramps up to replace the hot-selling small CUVs. March saw 27 selling days this year and last.

The automaker delivered 188,438 light vehicles in March, down from 197,888 year ago and off by nearly 48,000 vehicles at 506,300 sales year-to-date, according to WardsAuto data. Light trucks, down 2%, accounted for 86% of FCA’s sales in the month as the company continued to eliminate most cars from its lineup in favor of trucks and utilities. Car sales were off 19%.

Growth came from the Ram truck brand, up 6% on 49,933 deliveries, and on the car side from Dodge (+10%) with 50,076 units and tiny Alfa Romeo with 553 sales in March, up from just 43 year-ago. The all-new Giulia sports sedan accounted for 484 of those deliveries.

Jeep saw another slow month, down 11% with 67,983 deliveries, with steep declines by the Compass (66%) and Patriot (36%) hurting the brand. The Grand Cherokee (+22%) was the only nameplate showing an increase.

Jeep global brand chief Mike Manley is counting on the incoming Compass, along with the Grand Cherokee Trackhawk scheduled for a New York auto show reveal, and finally the all-new ’18 Wrangler due by the end of this year, to lift the brand’s sales.

“Full year, I think it’s going to be a close-run thing – we’ll be up or flat,” Manley tells reporters on the sidelines of a media event at FCA US corporate headquarters in Auburn Hills, MI.

The Pacifica minivan with 25,052 deliveries remains the only positive in the Chrysler brand portfolio, while the outgoing Town & Country dwindles and cars continue to struggle. In contrast, Dodge saw Journey sales double, backed by a 19% increase in Caravan minivan deliveries and a 17% uptick in Challenger sales.

Ram’s increase came on a 6% rise in light-duty pickup sales and a 24% jump in ProMaster large-van deliveries.

The Fiat brand declined 5% despite a 12% increase in sales of the 500 minicar and delivery of 419 124 Spider sports cars. The automaker reported a 32% hike in Maserati sales in March compared with year-ago.

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