FCA Sales: September 2018

[Ryan]

FCA US Reports September 2018 Sales

• FCA US reaches highest September of total and retail sales in 18 years
• Ram and Jeep® brands each post record September total sales
• Ram brand posts best month of total sales ever
• Alfa Romeo brand sales increase 29 percent over last year

October 2, 2018, Auburn Hills, Mich. - FCA US LLC today reported U.S. sales of 199,819 vehicles, a 15 percent increase compared with sales in September 2017 of 174,266 vehicles.

FCA US total sales and retail sales both posted their best performance in September in 18 years. The September total sales record was in 2000 when sales reached 219,966 vehicles. Retail sales of 149,713 vehicles were the highest level since 2000 when retail sales hit 189,794. Sales were driven by Ram pickup trucks, Jeep® Cherokee and Jeep Compass. Fleet accounted for 25 percent of total sales.

“Our Ram and Jeep brands propelled both our retail and total sales to their highest levels in 18 years,” said Reid Bigland, Head of U.S. Sales.

Jeep Brand
Jeep brand sales rose 14 percent to 83,764 vehicles. It was the ninth consecutive time Jeep has set a monthly record for total sales. It was the sixth time this year Jeep brand sales have surpassed 80,000 vehicles. The Cherokee and Compass led the way with sales rising 87 percent and 46 percent, respectively.

Ram Brand
Ram brand sales rose 9 percent to 56,447 vehicles compared with the previous year. It was the best month of sales since August 2018 when sales reached 54,808 vehicles. It was the highest September sales for the brand since it was launched in 2009. The light-duty Ram 1500 was the driver as retail sales rose 11 percent to 30,498 and total sales rose 18 percent to 36,658 vehicles. It was the best September of light-duty retail and total sales ever.

Alfa Romeo Brand
Alfa Romeo brand sales rose 29 percent to 1,639 vehicles. Stelvio accounted for the majority of those sales with 864 vehicles sold.

Dodge Brand
Dodge brand sales jumped 41 percent to 42,101. The brand sales were driven by the Dodge Journey, which rose 48 percent, the Dodge Challenger, which rose 14 percent, and the Caravan, which saw its sales climb to 13,829 vehicles for the month.

Chrysler Brand
Chrysler brand sales declined 7 percent to 14,683 vehicles compared with the same month a year ago.

FIAT Brand
Sales of Fiat declined 46 percent to 1,185 vehicles.

Source: FCA US

 

[Bili]

I'm impressed. FCA was better than FoMoCo?

 

[UN4GTBL]

Almost 24,000 Cherokees?!?!

 

[Ryan]

Almost 24,000 Cherokees?!?!

Jeep just keeps growing. It's pretty amazing.

 

[AlexB]

I'm impressed. FCA was better than FoMoCo?

Yes, Ford sold 197,494 during September in the U.S.

 

[AlexB]

Challenger (5,462) nearly caught Mustang(5,770) in September in sales.

 

[AlexB]

Here's Toyota sales:https://pressroom.toyota.com/sales-financial/releases/september+2018+sales+chart.download

Corolla down 34% to 20,797
Cramy sold 27,640.
Toyota is getting the "feeling" of the move to CUV's/SUV's.

 

[Ryan]

FCA US Reports 2018 September Sales: Cherokee and Ram 1500 Strong Sellers:
Ram & Jeep® Brands Each Post Record September Total Sales...

2019 Jeep Cherokee Limited. (MoparInsiders).

The numbers are out. FCA US LLC today reported U.S. sales of 199,819 vehicles, a 15% increase compared with sales in September 2017 of 174,266 vehicles.
FCA US total sales and retail sales both posted their best performance in September in 18 years. The September total sales record was in 2000 when sales reached 219,966 vehicles. Retail sales of 149,713 vehicles were the highest level since 2000 when retail sales hit 189,794. Sales were driven by Ram pickup trucks, Jeep® Cherokee and Jeep Compass. Fleet accounted for 25% of total sales.

“Our Ram and Jeep brands propelled both our retail and total sales to their highest levels in 18 years,” said Reid Bigland, Head of U.S. Sales.

The full article can be found here: https://moparinsiders.com/fca-us-reports-2018-september-sales-cherokee-and-ram-1500-strong-sellers/

 

[redriderbob]

The FIAT brand really hasn't made any stride here in the US. Best thing for FCA would be the slap different from and rear fascias on them and call them Chryslers. Probably would sell more. This is suppose to be the entry level brand for FCA US. I know they are moving FIAT studios into CDJR dealers. But it was a waste for the standalone studios to begin with.

500L would already be a good replacement for PT Cruiser. lol.

https://oppositelock.kinja.com/the-fiat-500l-is-the-pt-cruiser-of-modern-time-1722002969

 

[Rustydodge]

Ford's going to have to do a little work to get their SUV strategy going.

Ford SUV
2018 Ford SUV YTD = 600,847
2018 Lincoln SUV YTD = 54,025
2018 Total YTD = 654,872
2017 Total YTD = 647,503
+1%

FCA SUV
2018 Jeep YTD = 746,194
2018 Dodge SUV YTD = 126,774
2018 Alfa SUV YTD = 9,044
2018 Total YTD = 882,012
2017 Total YTD = 751,212
+17

Jeep brand alone is handily beating all of Ford.

 

[Ryan]

Ford's going to have to do a little work to get their SUV strategy going.

Ford SUV
2018 Ford SUV YTD = 600,847
2018 Lincoln SUV YTD = 54,025
2018 Total YTD = 654,872
2017 Total YTD = 647,503
+1%

FCA SUV
2018 Jeep YTD = 746,194
2018 Dodge SUV YTD = 126,774
2018 Alfa SUV YTD = 9,044
2018 Total YTD = 882,012
2017 Total YTD = 751,212
+17

Jeep brand alone is handily beating all of Ford.

If their sales are plummeting now, imagine what will happen when they drop all of their passenger cars... I don't think their SUVs are unique enough to stand out on the market. They are just vanilla. Jeep offers off-road capability and luxury to differentiate their vehicles from competitors, Dodge offers the perception of performance in the Durango. Ford offers... what, exactly?

 

[Rustydodge]

If their sales are plummeting now, imagine what will happen when they drop all of their passenger cars... I don't think their SUVs are unique enough to stand out on the market. They are just vanilla. Jeep offers off-road capability and luxury to differentiate their vehicles from competitors, Dodge offers the perception of performance in the Durango. Ford offers... what, exactly?

Exactly. Ford will be bringing new Nautilus and Explorer and Bronco....but FCA will have updated grand cherokee, GC 3row (and maybe a chrysler version?), updated Durango, and new Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer not to mention probable refreshes on current models that are doing really well (Cherokee, Compass, Wrangler) within the next 3 years (supposedly)

A lot of people question the lack of support for Chrysler and Dodge SUVs, but big picture Jeep can do the heavy lifting at a good margin for FCA. I'd love to see a new "Journey" for Chrysler and Dodge (we almost bought a journey over our durango) but why at the risk of losing Jeep margins?

Really interested to see what the new 3row Jeep will look like and if Chyrsler ends up getting it's own version of it (similar to current Grand Cherokee and Durango relationship).

 

[Ryan]

Exactly. Ford will be bringing new Nautilus and Explorer and Bronco....but FCA will have updated grand cherokee, GC 3row (and maybe a chrysler version?), updated Durango, and new Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer not to mention probable refreshes on current models that are doing really well (Cherokee, Compass, Wrangler) within the next 3 years (supposedly)

A lot of people question the lack of support for Chrysler and Dodge SUVs, but big picture Jeep can do the heavy lifting at a good margin for FCA. I'd love to see a new "Journey" for Chrysler and Dodge (we almost bought a journey over our durango) but why at the risk of losing Jeep margins?

Really interested to see what the new 3row Jeep will look like and if Chyrsler ends up getting it's own version of it (similar to current Grand Cherokee and Durango relationship).

I'm afraid that the Lincoln name is holding that brand back. They've had some decent products, but they haven't had nearly the marketing efforts as Buick to change perceptions of the brand. Matthew McConaughey's Lincoln commercials were hilariously awful.

Ford seemed content for too long to lean on the F-series for the majority of their volume and I think that's biting them in the butt now that they're going to try to expand their SUV lineup after years of having mediocre products. Jeep proved it was possible to overcome mediocrity but they also had the off-road capability and lifestyle aspects to prop up their brand while Ford has no real defining characteristics of its own.

 

[Freshforged]

lots of work to do with Fiat. Their plunge into irreverence continues. They need to invest in a consistent and effective ad campaign--just selling Italian-ness is a roadmap to disaster, as we have already seen. Tell us why we should care--maybe push the turbo engines and showcase the Abarth model. Too much emphasis on retro when too few people in the states even realize that the cute little car selling tires in Cars was a 500. Keep some touches but make it relevant to today's buyer.

• How about less slope in the 500 back light so you get a bit more storage back there?
• How about a less-funky windshield in the 500L so people don't get scared off? Its not like you really gain much by having the little greenhouse in front of you anyway.
• How about getting rid of the stupid "everything is a 500" naming scheme? Thats as dumb as Seaworld calling all their orca "Shamu."
• How about giving the 500X a reason for being other than "we're not as capable as a Jeep but cost just as much"--not much of a selling point eh?

ugh

 

[Ryan]

• How about giving the 500X a reason for being other than "we're not as capable as a Jeep but cost just as much"--not much of a selling point eh?

For 2019, 500X seems like a direct answer to the Subaru Crosstrek IMO.

 

[Freshforged]

For 2019, 500X seems like a direct answer to the Subaru Crosstrek IMO.

humm, hadn't considered that.

 

[Ryan]

humm, hadn't considered that.

Not that it will likely make an impact on the Crosstrek on sales, but they seem to be positioning it as a quirky soft-roader with standard AWD while the Renegade looks tougher now with some JL design elements.

 

[Freshforged]

Not that it will likely make an impact on the Crosstrek on sales, but they seem to be positioning it as a quirky soft-roader with standard AWD while the Renegade looks tougher now with some JL design elements.

good point. Haven't compared the two side by side, but it seems like the Crosstrek has more cargo capacity that is easier to access. But it could be a way forward.

 

[AlexB]

Looks like RAM outsold Silverado(133,329)in Q3 with Silverado doing nearly sub-44,500 monthly: http://gmauthority.com/blog/2018/10...les-figures-numbers-results-united-states-q3/

 

[Ryan]

Looks like RAM outsold Silverado(133,329)in Q3 with Silverado doing nearly sub-44,500 monthly: http://gmauthority.com/blog/2018/10...les-figures-numbers-results-united-states-q3/

Poor GM...

I'm afraid the new Silverado isn't going to help them.