Ram Stanches Bleeding at FCA

FCA US followed a small sales decline in September with a second dip last month despite continuing strength of its Ram truck brand that recorded 21.3% increase on a daily-sales basis on top of its 27.2% jump in September.

FCA light-vehicle sales dipped 3.4% on a daily basis compared with year-ago on a 10% decline in light-vehicle volume in October to 175,073 units, with every brand showing a drop except Jeep and Ram, WardsAuto data shows. October had 26 selling days, two fewer than year-ago.

The Ram brand enjoyed a second month of healthy sales, delivering 47,907 vehicles including 42,355 light-duty Ram pickups, a 16.2% increase, and 4,500 ProMaster commercial vans, a 106% leap.

Ram pickup volume wasn’t enough to post a second month ahead of the Chevrolet Silverado, which moved 49,768 units in October. In September, Ram grabbed the second-place position behind the Ford F-150 by a slim 739-truck margin over Silverado – Ram’s first monthly win over Silverado in 17 years.

The Jeep Grand Cherokee saw a strong month with a 17.3% increase, leading the brand to a narrow 0.6% upward tick in daily sales on volume of 68,826 units. The Patriot also was a positive with 9.3% growth, while Cherokee (-16.9%), Compass (-1.5%), Renegade (-2.3%) and Wrangler (-0.3%) all slumped.

Also posting declines were the Alfa Romeo (-57.3%), Chrysler (-40.5%), Dodge (-10%) and Fiat (-18.5%) brands. Bright spots included the all-new Chrysler Pacifica minivan with 7,758 sales in October for a year-to-date total of 43,330 units, the surprisingly resilient Dodge Journey CUV recording a 25.8% daily sales spike and the Fiat 500 minicar with a 16.5% jump.

Overall, FCA’s car business continued to shrink, selling just 21,144 vehicles in October for a year-to-date total of 291,565 units, a 33.2% nosedive. Light trucks were up 13.2% for the period on a 153,929-unit increase in October to 1,587,027 for the year.

[email protected] @bobgritzinger