FCA Captures the Pre-Summer Sales

While some will tell you the sales increase that FCA experienced in the month of May has to do with the cancellation of the Dodge Dart and Chrysler 200, they would be dead wrong. There is no evidence to this at all, especially when you consider the fact that no volume has been moved, no partner has been announced and these vehicles aren’t out of production as of yet. Rather than think that a short sighted cancellation of two models that are sure to be missed in a couple years is a selling boost, let’s look at what FCA has that Ford and GM don’t that made the sales bump for the month.

What FCA offers that the other two don’t have is simply Jeep. The Jeep brand has been admired for many years as the domestic brand to trust when you want a vehicle that can take you off road in ways you never thought of. We know the Wrangler is the Jeep built with the perfect wheelbase for all sorts of rugged driving, but some of the other Jeep models, ones that make more sense for everyday drivers, are the sales winners for the month of May and a big reason as to why FCA experienced an increase in sales.

The sales for FCA were up a full one percent and the sales for the year so far came in at 955,186. This one percent increase for the month may not seem like much, but the overall sales increase for FCA for the year is actually at six percent, which is respectable. With gas prices going down more customers are buying vehicles they can take on an adventure and gearing up for those times with these Jeep models. The sales leaders were the Renegade, Compass and Patriot for Jeep and the Fiat 500X for another FCA brand. The Ram pickup sales were actually down three percent for the month of May which is telling because Ram trucks have been one of the biggest sales leaders for FCA for a long time.

At Ford May was a month with a drop of 6.4 percent in sales compared to the same time last year. Lincoln actually showed an increase in sales of 6.9 percent and the overall Ford company was down for the month by nearly six percent. Even though May was a rough month at Ford, the overall sales for the company is up 4.2 percent to a total volume for the year of 1,112,939. The sales leaders for Ford were the Escape, Expedition, F-Series and the Transit.

For GM the story was even worse for the month of May. All four divisions were down 18 percent and the overall sales for the year shows a decline of five percent to a volume for the year of 1,183,705. There didn’t seem to be anything that GM sold that helped to make an improvement in sales at all, not even the larger vehicles that were the sales leaders for Ford.

As you can see, FCA was able to have a great month on the strong back of the Jeep brand. The brand that promises outdoor adventure and an escape from the rigors of your daily life gave the boost needed to be the most promising part of the equation of success that FCA is looking for. While they won the month in the domestic race, FCA will need to continue to offer value in order to take a lead over the other two companies that always seem to find a way to bounce back into our favor. For now though, FCA had a great month and the Jeep brand carried the month for them.