FCA US reports March sales up 14%

[Anthony]

FCA US reports best March retail sales in 17 years

 

• Jeep® brand reports best month of total sales ever
• Jeep Wrangler reports best month of total sales ever
• Ram Light Duty retail sales increased 8 percent

FCA US LLC today reported March 2018 sales of 216,063 vehicles, a 14 percent increase compared with sales in March 2017 of 190,254 vehicles.

 

The company reported retail sales of 162,304 vehicles, up 11 percent from March 2017. It was the best month of March retail sales since the company sold 170,545 vehicles in March 2001. Total sales were the highest since March 2006 when the company sold 216,865 vehicles. Fleet accounted for 25 percent of overall sales.

 

Jeep®Brand
Jeep brand total sales rose 45 percent in March to 98,382 vehicles for its best month ever. The Jeep Wrangler led the group as sales rose 70 percent to 27,829 vehicles. It was the best month of sales ever for the nameplate, eclipsing the May 2015 record of 22,615 vehicles. Jeep Cherokee sales increased 63 percent to 23,764 vehicles for its best March sales ever.

 

Ram Truck Brand
Ram Truck brand sales declined 13 percent to 44,878 vehicles compared with the previous year. However, retail sales of the Ram Light Duty pickup truck rose 8 percent to 26,050 vehicles. The new 2019 Ram 1500 pickup truck began shipping to dealers in the second half of the month. The truck is being produced at the Sterling Heights Assembly Plant in Michigan.

 

Chrysler Brand
Chrysler brand total sales rose 15 percent in March to 19,499 vehicles compared with the same month a year ago. The Chrysler Pacifica minivan posted a 40 percent sales increase while the Chrysler 300 rose 25 percent.

 

Dodge Brand
Dodge brand total sales declined 2 percent to 49,184. Sales of the Dodge Challenger rose 31 percent to 8,150 vehicles.

 

FIAT Brand
Sales of Fiat declined 47 percent to 1,544 vehicles.

 

Alfa Romeo Brand
Alfa Romeo brand sales of 2,576 vehicles were up significantly compared with the same month a year ago. Giulia led the brand with 1,284 sales followed by Stelvio at 1,270 vehicles.

 

 

Edited April 4, 2018 by Anthony

[akirby]

Pent up demand for the new Wrangler plus discounts on the old one? That’s a huge jump.

[twintornados]

Compass has finally become a player in the market....

[rmc523]

Compass has finally become a player in the market....

 

Not surprising now that they have a credible entry in the segment (not a rental fleet dumper, though I'm sure a lot of those did go to rentals). Remember too that it's replacing both the old Compass and the Patriot

[630land]

Compass replaced two vehicles, so of course sales went up. But it is better then the aging previous model.

[Kev-Mo]

Jeep is killing it - all the young millennials in the office love the Jeep brand. They don't even know that Ford is still a brand of automobile. They think it is some old history that nobody would care about.

[rmc523]

Jeep is killing it - all the young millennials in the office love the Jeep brand. They don't even know that Ford is still a brand of automobile. They think it is some old history that nobody would care about.

 

Lol, really?

[rperez817]

 

Lol, really?

 

I don't think Kev-Mo's example is that unusual. Some of my sons' friends (late teens and early 20s) have made similar comments about Ford and Lincoln cars. They equate Ford with 'F-Series'. The 'hot' automotive brands for them these days include Jeep, Tesla, Range Rover, and the exotics like Ferrari, McLaren, etc.

Edited April 5, 2018 by rperez817

[silvrsvt]

 

I don't think Kev-Mo's example is that unusual. Some of my sons' friends (late teens and early 20s) have made similar comments about Ford and Lincoln cars. They equate Ford with 'F-Series'. The 'hot' automotive brands for them these days include Jeep, Tesla, Range Rover, and the exotics like Ferrari, McLaren, etc.

 

I think most kids are like that-then you face reality when you actually buy a car and then you hear the cries of buy an Accord, Camry, Civic, etc....snooze fest

[tbone]

 

I don't think Kev-Mo's example is that unusual. Some of my sons' friends (late teens and early 20s) have made similar comments about Ford and Lincoln cars. They equate Ford with 'F-Series'. The 'hot' automotive brands for them these days include Jeep, Tesla, Range Rover, and the exotics like Ferrari, McLaren, etc.

I cant Say that I blame them, I like them too.

[Assimilator]

Really interesting when you look at these numbers. Compass and Renegade, two vehicles based on the same B-Segment platform totaled 27,073 for March. That's significantly more than Focus, Fiesta, and EcoSport combined (24,397). It's also likely that these are all moving at higher ATPs.

 

Also keep in mind Jeep sales (98,382) are considerably higher than Ford's SUV sales (75,678).

 

The Compass is absolutely everywhere in Michigan, I can't help but assume they are giving them away. They are definitely the best looking vehicles in their class, but critics aren't as kind on them.

 

Ford's SUV sales are now 3rd in Detroit and hover around 4th or 5th in the industry (behind GM, FCA, Toyota, Nissan). Ford's SUV sales are also running a deficit for 2017, the only company facing declining utility sales.

 

Fortunately, stuff is on the way in a couple years.

Edited April 5, 2018 by Assimilator

[Kev-Mo]

 

Lol, really?

Yes really! Ford has done a really bad job of marketing to the next generation of customers. They made a somewhat half-hearted attempt the Focus and Fiesta, but young folks don't want cars with known transmission troubles- even if the cars are kind of cool.

 

What does Ford have to offer all those young buyers lining up for Subaru XV Crosstrek and Jeep Wranglers so they can go camping and snowboarding in a cool vehicle, offered in colors other than mom and dad's silver? Two millennial's at my office can't afford a nice Wrangler so they got the Renegade with the 'trail rated' badges and red tow hooks- Jeep wannabes, but satisfies the "cool" factor. They don't even know Ford exists unless they are in the market for a truck, but Ford and their "highest transaction prices" are ignoring an entire generation of buyers that want to play in the outdoors with a vehicle, but can't afford a $50K truck. When I was a kid, we all aspired to buy a Ford truck, and you could actually afford one at the age of 20 if you tried hard enough. Now every 20 year old aspires for a Tacoma - Ford is way out of reach, and not considered cool.

 

Maybe this 'Baby Bronco' will help, but it better be cool and AFFORDABLE for the young buyers. Truthfully, it is way late to the party, Jeep, Subaru and Toyota has a firm grasp on this generation and their designs and amount of product offerings don't seem to taking the customers lightly to let Ford steal them with one potential product.

Edited April 6, 2018 by Kev-Mo

[rmc523]

Yes really! Ford has done a really bad job of marketing to the next generation of customers. They made a somewhat half-hearted attempt the Focus and Fiesta, but young folks don't want cars with known transmission troubles- even if the cars are kind of cool. What does Ford have to offer all those young buyers lining up for Subaru Crosstrek and Jeep Wranglers so they can go camping and snowboarding in a cool vehicle? Two millennial's at my office can't afford a nice Wrangler so they got the Renegade with the 'trail rated' badges and red tow hooks- Jeep wannabes, but satisfies the cool factor. They don't even know Ford exists unless they are in the market for a Truck, but Ford and their "highest transaction prices" are ignoring an entire generation of buyers that want to play outside with a vehicle but can't afford a $60K truck.

 

Yup, they're ignoring them by bringing out a Bronco, baby Bronco, and new Escape.

 

We all know Ford's current lineup is missing a few pieces, but those pieces are on the way.

[Kev-Mo]

Ford and Harley Davidson - two truly iconic, truly American companies, both made the same mistake. They focused so much on getting more $$ from the same customer and completely ignored the next wave of customers. Now, this will be very hard to recover from. Twenty years from now we will have some very interesting epic recovery or self-destruction business cases to study.

[akirby]

Ford hasn’t had much to compete with Crosstrek or Jeeps and won’t until the new vehicles launch over the next 1-3 years.

[Kev-Mo]

 

Yup, they're ignoring them by bringing out a Bronco, baby Bronco, and new Escape.

 

We all know Ford's current lineup is missing a few pieces, but those pieces are on the way.

They have ignored them. Way late to the party! Too slow to bring new product! Jeep Scrambler will be out before the Bronco! And these loyal customers are just going to run to Ford after a decade or more of being ignored?

 

As I previously stated: Maybe this 'Baby Bronco' will help, but it better be cool and AFFORDABLE for the young buyers. Truthfully, it is way late to the party, Jeep, Subaru and Toyota has a firm grasp on this generation and their designs and amount of product offerings don't seem to taking the customers lightly to let Ford steal them with one potential product.

[Kev-Mo]

Ford hasn’t had much to compete with Crosstrek or Jeeps and won’t until the new vehicles launch over the next 1-3 years.

Yep! And Jeep, Subaru, and Toyota is just going to sit around for the next 1-3 years and let it all go!

Ford is too slow, and very late. I am a Ford guy and will buy one of these new offerings, but the young customer is not going to run away so easy. Toyota and Jeep can put our a new or refreshed product in half the time it takes Ford. Again, I just read yesterday the Jeep Scrambler is due to be out before we even get the Bronco - that has been in development half of the time of the Bronco? And the Escape - available in Ruby Red, Blue, and 6 shades of silver- this is not going to steal young buyers in bright orange and lime green Jeeps and Crosstreks!

[ice-capades]

Ford hasn’t had much to compete with Crosstrek or Jeeps and won’t until the new vehicles launch over the next 1-3 years.

 

Agreed but this is an example of what's happened because of the decisions made by Ford management the past 3-4 years. Just ask the Lincoln Dealers about how many years its taken for then to get the new product they were promised years ago. Ford follows but never leads the market and then is late to introduce vehicles to compete and hopefully catch up to the competition.

 

In the same vein, I've always laughed when someone asks or comments about Microsoft being an innovative company. I've done beta testing for Microsoft for 25+ years and one thing they're not in most cases is innovative. When they see something innovative, they buy out the company and then integrate it into their other products. Microsoft did a horrible job initially with software subscriptions while Adobe mastered the process very quickly.

 

It's fine for Ford to set their sights on mobility motoring with connected and autonomous vehicles in the future but they have to recognize and address the situation that their primary business is vehicle sales that will produce the profits for future opportunities. Without those vehicle sales and the resulting profits, there is no future!

[rmc523]

Yep! And Jeep, Subaru, and Toyota is just going to sit around for the next 1-3 years and let it all go!

Ford is too slow, and very late. I am a Ford guy and will buy one of these new offerings, but the young customer is not going to run away so easy. Toyota and Jeep can put our a new or refreshed product in half the time it takes Ford. Again, I just read yesterday the Jeep Scrambler is due to be out before we even get the Bronco - that has been in development half of the time of the Bronco? And the Escape - available in Ruby Red, Blue, and 6 shades of silver- this is not going to steal young buyers in bright orange and lime green Jeeps and Crosstreks!

 

The Wrangler in its outgoing form has been around since 2007....and there's been talk of a Jeep truck for many years, I'd hope they'd have had time to do it by now.

 

Putting a bed on the back of a Wrangler is much easier than designing an all new vehicle like Bronco from scratch.

 

I'm not saying Ford isn't late to the market in segments, but let's recognize that they're working to address your concerns. Everyone knows Fields screwed the company product wise by delaying everything.

[akirby]

I think you’re putting too much importance on young buyers and brand loyalty. A lot of those sales go to the cheapest bidder and there isn’t much profit there and probably no brand loyalty - they’ll just go to the next cheapest option.

 

As long as Ford has good products to choose from in most segments they’ll be fine. It’s not like they’re ignoring those markets completely - they’re just late to the party in some cases.

 

The biggest thing they need is continuity - pick something and stick with it and improve it over time. That’s what I thought they were doing with Focus, Fusion and Escape by combining platforms but then they dropped the ball again. That’s how Corolla, Civic, Camry and Accord sell so many vehicles - they’ve been constantly improving the same vehicle over multiple generations and decades. Same for F series.

[CKNSLS]

I think you’re putting too much importance on young buyers and brand loyalty. A lot of those sales go to the cheapest bidder and there isn’t much profit there and probably no brand loyalty - they’ll just go to the next cheapest option.

 

As long as Ford has good products to choose from in most segments they’ll be fine. It’s not like they’re ignoring those markets completely - they’re just late to the party in some cases.

 

The biggest thing they need is continuity - pick something and stick with it and improve it over time. That’s what I thought they were doing with Focus, Fusion and Escape by combining platforms but then they dropped the ball again. That’s how Corolla, Civic, Camry and Accord sell so many vehicles - they’ve been constantly improving the same vehicle over multiple generations and decades. Same for F series.

 

I think your under estimating the next generation of vehicle buyers-just like Ford has......

[2b2]

...Everyone knows Fields screwed the company product wise by delaying everything.

not me!

I've heard/seen that but definitely do Not *know* it

 

even if his signature had been on the orders, did someone have a gun to his head?

Edited April 6, 2018 by 2b2

[rmc523]

not me!

I heard/seen that but definitely do Not *know* it

 

Well. Every product is delayed on their redesigns or have gotten mild at best refreshes when they should've gotten a redesign.

 

If that isn't evidence enough, I don't know what is.

[akirby]

I think your under estimating the next generation of vehicle buyers-just like Ford has......

 

Convince me.

Edited April 6, 2018 by akirby

[630land]

Most younger buyers are getting used cars (pre owned), or "just Uber-ing it".