Stellantis reported second-quarter sales figures for its Fiat Chrysler Automobiles brands, and the news isn’t good. Double-digit declines are everywhere, with two very notable exceptions. All of the Detroit-based brands are down, but the Italians, particularly Fiat and Alfa Romeo, are up.
Ram took the biggest hit, down 26 percent in Q2. In total, it sold 90,100 trucks and 15,369 ProMaster vans from April through June. The Promaster City, which ends production in 2022, still had seven sales. Overall, Ram’s year-over-year performance is consistent with Q2 with a 26 percent decline. That could change for the better when the redesigned 2025 Ram 1500 pickup arrives in dealerships later in the year.
Jeep and Chrysler both had year-over-year declines of 19 percent. The declines are not entirely unexpected, especially for Chrysler, which is built on cars only: the Pacifica. Sales totaled 37,786, a 16 percent decline for the minivan. And we continue to say goodbye to the dead 300 with 1,998 sales, a 53 percent decline.
It’s a similar story at Jeep, with the canceled Cherokee and Renegade dragging down the percentages. But in-production vehicles also fell, with the Wrangler down 17 percent, Gladiator down 24 percent and the Grand Cherokee, Jeep’s best-selling vehicle with 52,296 units, down 26 percent. Only the Wagoneer family avoided the worst, with a 24 percent increase for the high-end Grand Wagoneer and a 107 percent jump for the standard version.
Dodge is also in a transition phase, down 17 percent. The Challenger is dead, but 11,480 units still found a home in the second quarter, down just 11 percent. The current-generation Charger is also out of production, resulting in a significant 34 percent drop to 16,216 units sold. The Durango is down nine percent to 17,792 units as production nears its end. The only model currently in Dodge’s lineup not The Hornet is the best-selling, but it is not exactly popular. Only 4,299 were sold in the second quarter.
Now for some good news, complete with a healthy dose of irony. Alfa Romeo posted an eight percent sales increase for Q2 thanks to 887 Tonale sales. Yes, Alfa’s take on the Dodge Hornet helped the Italian company eke out a positive quarter, offsetting sales of the Giulia and Stelvio, which fell by 24 and 29 percent respectively. And then we come to plucky Fiat, which posted an astonishing 119 percent year-on-year sales increase. But don’t get too excited. The company sold 163 500s this year, compared to just one (yes, one) last year.
We suspect there are some concerned executives in the hallways of FCA’s Auburn Hills headquarters right now. With new products coming soon for Ram and Dodge, it will be interesting to see if those numbers turn around a bit in the second half of the year.