FCA US LLC today reported December U.S. sales of 196,520 vehicles, a 14 percent increase compared with sales of 171,946 vehicles in December 2017.
Retail sales for the month rose slightly to 151,077 vehicles. Fleet sales totaled 45,443 vehicles and accounted for 23 percent of total sales during the month.
The Jeep® Wrangler was the standout for the month and the year. Wrangler notched record December sales of 19,800 vehicles and full-year sales of 240,032. The results significantly exceeded the former full-year sales record of 202,266 set in 2015.
For the year, U.S. retail sales were 1,760,488, marking the highest level since 2001 when sales reached 1,833,186 vehicles. Total U.S. sales rose 9 percent to 2,235,204 compared with 2,059,376 vehicles for 2017. Fleet sales accounted for 21 percent of the company’s overall sales in 2018.
“This year’s performance underscores the efforts we undertook to realign our production to give U.S. consumers more Jeep vehicles and Ram pickup trucks,” Head of U.S. Sales Reid Bigland said. “We see sales remaining solid in 2019 and we look forward to expanding our vehicle portfolio with the addition of the much anticipated Jeep Gladiator.”
Jeep Brand
Jeep brand sales rose 10 percent to 80,449 vehicles in December. For the year, sales increased 17 percent to a record 973,227 vehicles, eclipsing the last record of 926,376 vehicles in 2016.
The Jeep Cherokee and Jeep Compass joined the Wrangler in setting new records for December and the year. Cherokee sales rose 7 percent to 20,800 vehicles. For the year, sales were 239,437 vehicles. Compass sales rose 46 percent to 12,745 in December. For the year, sales were 171,167, which beat the previous record of 94,601 set in 2016. There were 9 left over Jeep Patriots in dealer inventories sold during the month.
Ram Brand
Ram brand sales rose 37 percent in December to 68,195 vehicles. For the year, sales hit a new record of 597,368 vehicles. The Ram 1500 – the Most Awarded Full-size Truck – drove the performance as total sales climbed 15 percent to 377,286 vehicles for a new record. Ram ProMaster and ProMaster City reported the best December ever. ProMaster sales rose 75 percent to 5,857 vehicles while ProMaster City sales increased 35 percent to 2,183 vehicles.
Dodge Brand
Dodge brand December sales rose 17 percent to 32,528 vehicles. For the year, Challenger sales rose 3 percent to 66,716 which is a new record for the nameplate. The previous record was 66,377 in 2015. The Dodge Grand Caravan was the most sold Dodge vehicle in 2018, with 151,927 vehicles sold. The Journey was the second best selling nameplate for the brand with 94,096 vehicles sold during the year. Charger sales were down for the year by 9 percent, with 80,226 units sold in the U.S. and was the third best selling nameplate for the brand. Dealers were able to sell 2 Dodge Darts and 3 Dodge Vipers left over in their inventories during the month of December.
Alfa Romeo Brand
Alfa Romeo brand December sales fell 4 percent to 1,946 vehicles. Alfa Romeo’s 2018 annual sales rose to a record 23,820, which was almost twice as much as the brand sold in 2017. Both Stelvio and Giulia finished the year notching more than 11,500 vehicle sales.
Chrysler Brand
Chrysler brand December sales fell 28 percent to 12,425 vehicles. However, the Pacifica reported higher year-over-year results as vehicle sales totaled 118,322. Overall, the brand has seen some softening during the year following the continued wind-down of the Chrysler 200 and the Town & Country. Dealers still were able to push 6 leftover Chrysler 200s off their lots in December. The brand still sold 332 Chrysler 200s in 2018. The Chrysler 300 closed out the year with a total of 46,593 vehicles sold. The brand overall sold 165,964 vehicles in 2018.
FIAT Brand
There isn’t too much to be said about the Fiat brand. Fiat December sales declined 44 percent to 977 vehicles in December. Fiat finished the year with 15,521 vehicle sales. Only 1,413 500L models were sold in the U.S. during 2018. The best selling nameplate was the 500, with 5,370 vehicles sold for the year. The 500X was the second best nameplate for the brand with 5,223 vehicles sold in 2018.
