With buyers desperate for cars this past year, FCA US dealers seem to have successfully cleared out their remaining supplies of unpopular or long-discontinued cars, which might have been used as loaners or demonstrators, or for internal purposes.The dead-but-sold cars include nine Jeep Patriots (only one was sold in 2020, but nine were sold in … Read more
FCA Canada reported a 10% fall in sales over 2021, compared with 2020. Jeep gained in retail sales by 20% for the full year. The Grand Cherokee, which recently added an “L” three-row variant and a new generation of the two-row model, gained in fourth-quarter retail sales by 56% to be the best selling full … Read more
Stellantis reported retail sales similar to 2020, and total sales around 2% below 2020.FCA US LLC had sales of 411,513 vehicles in the fourth quarter and 1,777,394 vehicles in all of 2021. By comparison, GM sales dropped by 13% year to year; Honda rose 9%; Hyundai rose 22%; and Ford has not yet reported in, … Read more
Two recent recalls provide a window into sales of the new Grand Cherokee and Cummins-equipped heavy duty trucks.Recall 21V88 covers 222,410 Cummins-equipped 2019-20 Ram pickups and chassis-cabs in every capacity. The high pressure fuel pump may fail suddenly, stalling the engine. Owners will replace the pump, update the computer software, and replace any other fuel … Read more
A new Mopar rewards program provides “miles” rewards based on how much you drive—and how much you walk or bike…
Yesterday, Ford announced that its revenue had fallen by just 5%, while its third-quarter profit fell 24%, to $1.8 billion. Ford also restored the dividend it had suspended due to COVID, and announced that its full year profits would be much higher than expected—$10.5 to $11 billion.How did Stellantis, parent company of the former Chrysler … Read more
Ram beat the Chevrolet Silverado again to be America’s second-best-selling pickup after the wider-ranging Ford F-series, with 434,772 Ram sales year-to-date comfortably above 407,266 Silverados but well below 534,831 Fords.GM still beat Stellantis, overall, given 191,186 GMC Sierra sales; indeed, GM beat Ford, too, if we include both Silverado and Sierra, as we really should.Year … Read more
Belvidere Assembly Plant will, according to Automotive News, be down until the end up October due to parts shortages. The plant has been slammed before by parts shortages as well, resulting in sharp declines in sales.Brampton (Ontario) is also down for the week; there appears to be demand for Challengers, Chargers, and 300s, but not … Read more
In the last quarter, Dodge sold three new Darts—three times as many as in Q3 of 2020. That was a good number for a car which was dropped in 2016.Launched to great fanfare in 2013, the Dodge Dart posted impressive numbers for a midsize car, which it was rather close to being; as the largest … Read more
The US and Canadian branches of Stellantis saw sales drops, comparing their shortage-prone 2021 figures with the COVID-affected numbers of 2020.The good news in the US was, not unexpectedly, largely in Jeep and Ram; Grand Cherokee saw retail sales shoot up by 47%, with total sales up 45%, in the third quarter. It was the … Read more
A huge, online Mopar auction is coming, to break up a collection held in Texas and gathered over the course of many years. Some of the cars are pristine, some are junkers; and there is memorabilia for those who can’t afford the cars (or the shipping).The auction materials are already posted, via Spanky’s Freedom Car … Read more
American Stellantis owners are less likely to stay loyal to the company than buyers of GM or Ford cars, by a wide margin, according to Experian data published recently by Automotive News. However, Stellantis is not at the bottom of the automotive field—though its competitors are generally much smaller.Among major manufacturers, GM is surprisingly the … Read more
US dealers will be clear of one more large sedan in 2023, according to Larry Vellequette of Automotive News, who reported this week that the Toyota Avalon is being dropped at the end of the 2022 model year. Originally created out of the Camry by mainly ex-GM engineers in the United States, the Avalon waxed … Read more
How many Mopars are still being used in the United States?According to Experian, which analyzed all registrations of vehicles in the United States and released a summary to Automotive News, the answer is “quite a few.” However, it’s a little more complicated.First, let’s look at the traditional cars. There are apparently 3.7 million Chryslers from … Read more
Stellantis has reported high first-half-of-2021 results, with an 11.4% margin; all segments were profitable.The following results are listed in euros; currently, €1 = US$1.19.First, net revenues were €72.6 billion, compared with €19.6 billion one year ago; the net profit was €5.8 billion, vs €797 million in the first half of 2020. Pro format, net profit … Read more
The Jeep Gladiator has climbed to #3 among midsize pickups, which is admittedly not a large group of vehicles, partly by being available during a time of shortages. Now, parts shortages are hitting the Gladiator too, but only for one week of production—so far.Americans bought 48,784 Gladiators in the first half of the year, a … Read more
