A better 2022 for Mopars, north of the border

Mopars fared reasonably well in Canadian sales for 2022, with 169,179 cars sold—a 5% gain over 2021.

The truly big sellers were Ram pickups and chassis cabs, with 75,740 sales (up 3% for the year, though they fell in the US). Chrysler used be synonymous with minivans in Canada, which once outsold every other vehicle. In 2022, the Chrysler Grand Caravan sold just 3,693 vehicles (up 36%), with Pacifica adding 7,692 sales and the old Dodge Caravan … not sold at all. Last year, in 2021, the two Chryslers (the same vehicle in different trim levels) had 7,226 sales, combined, and the Dodge Caravan added 6,113; so minivans really fell from 13,339 to 11,385. Moving the Caravan into Chrysler-land resulted in Chrysler having a 71%  sales gain while Dodge dropped by 17%.

The 300 had 2,306 which was surprisingly competitive with its Dodge Charger brother’s 3,156; the Challenger only added 1,853 sales. Canada does not seem to be as entranced by muscle cars. The Durango’s 7,765 sales beat the Charger and Challenger combined, with room to spare. To put Dodge sales into perspective, Ram sold 5,137 ProMasters in Canada for the year.

Jeep was pretty hot, as usual, taking second place behind Ram, selling around 80 more cars than in 2021. The Wrangler did surprisingly well in the face of Bronco, gaining by 20% to be, by far, the most popular non-Ram Mopar in Canada with 23,994 sales. The Gladiator version hit 4,985 sales.

The two-row Grand Cherokee slumped by 59% to 6,927, while the three-row L gained dramatically to hit 9,755 sales; together, the two hit 16,682.

The Wagoneer had a good outing with 1631 regular and 930 high-priced Grands trading hands—totaling 16,682 sales. Compare those premium cars from a standard brand to Alfa Romeo’s 911 total sales for the year. Both were up from 2021 but that makes sense, since they started production late in that year.

On the lower end, Jeep did not do as well, with Compass falling 10% to 5,328 and Renegade gaining by 14% to a mere 345 sales. The Cherokee dropped by 31% to 6,371; it’s due for replacement around 2025, and in the meantime the newly re-engined Compass will fill in. Overall, though, Jeep Canada did better on the higher end; hopefully their service groups are up to the challenge of living up to the vehicles’ luxury.

At Alfa Romeo, around three quarters of sales went to the Stelvio crossover rather than the Giulia. They sold eight fewer cars than in 2021, due to the loss of the 3C (12 cars in 2021, none in 2022). At Fiat, which only sold the 500X this year, sales were down to 52 500X crossovers and a pair of leftover 124 Spiders—reversing 2021, really, where they sold 18 Xs and 55 Spiders.

Chrysler Canada, now FCA Canada, traditionally has a higher market share than Chrysler US, now FCA US.

Stellantis was the top seller of plug-in hybrids in Canada, with a 38% gain; two of the five best selling PHEV cars in Canada were the Jeep Wrangler 4xe and Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid. Jeep Wrangler 4xe remains Canada’s best-selling PHEV while Jeep Grand Cherokee 4xe had a strong start in late 2022.