In the second quarter of 2023, long after the last one was made, someone bought a Chrysler 200.
This sale was made after the car availability crisis hit its peak, and dealers could pretty much sell anything with four wheels. The 200 was a fine car, but the last one was made in 2016.
Other oddball sales were four Dodge Journeys (they only sold 45 of them in Q2 of 2022), and a single lone Dodge Caravan giving meaning to the term “new old stock.” A lone Fiat 500 also decorated the sales charts.
For the year to date, Fiat sold one 500 and three 500Ls, by coincidence exactly the same number they sold from January to June 2022. Alfa Romeo sold one 4C in each period, too.
In the first half of 2022, Dodge sold 21 Caravans and 156 Journeys; during that car-starved period, one would have thought that the lots would be clear, but intrepid or careless dealers apparently found 12 more Journeys and two more Caravans to sell in the first half of 2023 along with one more Chrysler 200.
The last Chrysler 200 was made in 2016—around seven years ago—for the 2017 model year. The car achieved some critical acclaim, but sales were disappointing and Sergio Marchionne dropped it to free up the factory. The 200 could have been made at the Belvedere plant, alongside the Cherokee (and the Dart) but Marchionne chose not to do this. One result of this decision was failing to reach the mandated average fuel economy numbers, so that Chrysler paid large sums of cash to Tesla for economy credits.
It is not uncommon for lone old cars to be sold years after they went out of production, but one would expect that over a year of nearly empty dealer lots would have sold all the “past due” cars.
Thanks, Dr. Mark of Allpar.
