Weighed down by plummeting sales in its Chrysler and Dodge divisions, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles fell 14% in year over year November sales. The Jeep brand, which had been helping FCA weather a sales slump after the automaker announced plans to phase out most of its automobile divisions, slipped 12% on falling Cherokee demand.
Surprisingly, FCAs steep decline stood in contrast to numerous other companies which reported larger than expected gains. Sales at Ford rose 5.2%, while General Motors listed a 10.2% gain, Nissan a 7.5%, and Toyota a 4.3% jump. Industry sales were boosted thanks to a November that had two additional selling days. However, FCA was not able to take advantage – in part because the company also saw a 42% decline in overall fleet sales.
FCA’s Ram division, as well as the Jeep Renegade and Chrysler Pacifica were the lone bright sports for the company in November. Ram saw a 12% increase, while Renegade sales jumped 30% and Pacifica bumped up 13%.
One big reason for the overall November decline was Chrysler’s 47% drop and Dodge’s 21% decline. Two major vehicles of those respective brands, the Chrysler 200 (down 72%) and Dodge Dart (down 69%), were dropped by FCA earlier this year. This will no doubt be a monthly trend for FCA into the new year as those vehicle inventories continue to decay.
Unfortunately for FCA, the Jeep brand remained in a soft-selling state. No other line besides the Renegade reached positive sales numbers for November, with Cherokee models displaying the worst decline at 37%. Jeep Wrangler vehicles slipped once again – this month down 7% - and fell into negative territory for the year at 6% down. Overall, Jeep as a whole remained up 8% for 2016.
Driving November sales for most automakers was consumer confidence, which appeared bolstered by Wall Street’s positive reaction to the presidential election as well as strong Black Friday automotive marketing.
"It’s probably no coincidence that this month’s strong sales performance comes at the same time that the Dow Jones Average reached an all-time high,” said Jessica Caldwell, executive director of industry analysis for Edmunds.com, in a recent report. "Now that the presidential election is over, shoppers have more confidence in the economy than they had just a month ago, and that gives them extra motivation to make big-ticket purchases."
