GM delivered 603,208 vehicles to US customers in the first quarter of 2023, an 18% increase over the first quarter of 2022—making them, again, America’s favorite automaker. Retail sales grew by 15%, while fleets leaped up by 27%.
Meanwhile, “Mopar,” or FCA US, saw a surprise 9% sales drop in the same period. Dodge was up by 24%, and Chrysler was up by 10%; but Jeep fell by 20% and Ram fell by 7%.
At Jeep, the only car with positive numbers was, oddly, the Cherokee, whose production has ended; it had 13,213 sales, up 31%, and good enough to beat the Renegade and Wagoneer, and nearly good enough to match the Gladiator. The Wagoneer/Grand Wagoneer is a high end luxury SUV and its sales are probably good for the profit margins. Still, the falling sales at Jeep must make Stellantis execs shiver. With the Ford Bronco still not quite at full production, the Wrangler has dropped by 17% (to a still healthy 37,971) and Gladiator has fallen by 24%. Of perhaps more concern, the Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer fell by 22% and 35%, respectively. Can they hold on until a new Cherokee fills what should be the most popular niche?
At Ram, a 17% drop in pickup sales is a major concern. On the lighter side, ProMaster van sales rose by 90% to 17,694; and with Ford dropping the Transit Connect, ProMaster City sales already tripled to 5,678.
The news at Chrysler was moderate, with a roughly 10% gain for both cars. The 300 stood at fewer than 3,000 sales and the Pacifica at 28,910; neither level is healthy, even if the 300 beat Fiat and Alfa Romeo combined.
At Dodge, the news was generally good, with Durango up 22%, Charger up 43%, and Challenger up 2%. The entire brand racked up 50,975 sales for the quarter. Fiat continues to barely exist, with a mere 135 500X sales and no other cars still for sale (though 3 500Ls found new owners); and Alfa Romeo’s 2,390 sales are not the stuff dreams are made of.
Toyota sales also fell, while Hyundai-Kia shot up—
- GM: +18%
- Ford: Reports tomorrow
- STLA: –9%
- Toyota: –9%
- Hyundai-Kia: +19%
- Nissan: +13%
- Honda: +7%
- Mazda: +7%
In Canada, FCA sales fell by 6%, to 40,073. Jeep dropped by 25%, with the Cherokee nearly doubling (to 1,258); Grand Cherokee L rose up to 3,528, a 62% gain, and Wagoneer rose by 36% to 414. The Wrangler is the biggest selling Jeep in Canada, with 5,010 sales—down 25%. Few Canadians bought plain Grand Cherokees (439), preferring the L (3,528). At Chrysler, 300 sales rose somewhat, to 301, while Pacifica fell by 40% and Grand Caravan fell by 51%. The Pacifica is more popular than Grand Caravan, 1300-to-601.
Dodge saw its first four Canadian Hornet sales; Charger dropped by 39% to 715, Challenger fell a bit to 448, and Durango, possibly in its final year, dominated both with a 43% increase to 2,260. Ram saw a 10% gain in pickups, to 20,125; ProMaster vans shot up from 395 to 1,393; and City stayed stable at 204. Finally, Alfa Romeo and Fiat continued to fall, with 167 Alfas and a stunning five Fiats selling over the past three months.
Pricing and incentives (US only). Stellantis has a stunning average transaction price now, with customers lashing out $52,890 per car, on average (via Automotive News, courtesy of TrueCar). That’s more than any other non-premium automaker; Daimler (Mercedes) had the highest average ($71,290), followed fairly closely by BMW, but then Stellantis took #3. (This does not include Tesla or Rivian, who do not participate.) GM slotted in at $49,901 and Ford at $46,933. Hyundai and Kia are downright reasonable, in the mid-$30s; Toyota came in at $40,866 and Volkswagen, which includes Porsche and Audi, at $47,080.
According to TrueCar, as reported in Automotive News, Stellantis is spending the most to buy sales in incentives, with $2,212 slapped onto the hood, on average. #2 is GM, at $1,927, followed by BMW, Daimler, and Ford at $1,595. Nissan’s incentives have fallen quit a bit to $1,772 per car. Volkswagen’s have also fallen, to $1,528. The lowest incentives are at Hyundai ($645), then Subaru, Kia, and Toyota, all under a thousand per car.
