FCA Sales Rise in February But Weather May Have Limited Gain

FCA US fell short of expectations but still managed to boost U.S. sales 5.6% from year-ago in February.

The gain both in daily rate (an identical 24 selling days this year and last) and volume came on total deliveries of 162,933 vehicles, WardsAuto data shows. Poor weather in many parts of the country may have played a role in tempering FCA’s February results, which WardsAuto had forecast for an 11.9% jump.

The Dodge and Fiat brands were the weak links, both landing in negative territory for the month. Dodge sales slid 15.3% to 42,115 units, while Fiat-brand deliveries fell 5.1% to 3,289, despite a strong performance from the more recently launched 500L model.

Dodge’s newer models also performed quite well, with Challenger (42.3%), Charger (15.9%) and Dart (51.5%) posting high double-digit gains. The Dart’s result could reflect a bump in fleet deliveries, but that’s unclear because FCA does not provide details on its fleet sales. The Durango (-12.2%) and Journey (-3.1%) CUVs both saw demand decline.

All other brands (excluding the just-emerging Alfa Romeo) recorded healthy increases, with Chrysler up 13.0% on a 31.2% rise in 200 sales, Jeep rising 21.1% on gains across the board and Ram up 11.2%, also with every vehicle in its lineup posting gains.

Trucks again carried the day for FCA, accounting for 71.3% of its sales.

Independent analysts Kelley Blue Book and TrueCar both say FCA’s average transaction prices were up in February compared with year-ago.

“In spite of snow and bitter cold that slowed auto sales in many regions of the country, FCA US still turned in a 6% sales increase and extended our year-over-year sales streak to 59-consecutive months,” Reid Bigland, head of U.S. sales for the company, says in a statement. “Even with tougher year-over-year comparisons in 2015, our vehicle lineup continues to produce record sales results.”

FCA says it wrapped up February with 577,277 vehicles in inventory, equivalent to an 85-day supply.

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