FCA US in sales, 2024 so far; pickup losses, minivan dominance

Last week, we reported on first-half 2024 sales for the former Chrysler group, or FCA US as it’s officially known. As the company stretches itself to save money in odd ways, it may be worth looking at sales compared with other automakers.

FCA US fell to sixth place in US sales, hitting 681,634; that’s behind GM (1,281,735), Toyota, Ford, Hyundai-Kia (817,805), and Honda (690,281). It’s a market share low point.

Some of the weakness was in Ram pickups, with fewer than 180,000 sold. Chevrolet and GMC’s equivalent pickups reached 407,078 and Ford had 352,406; even Toyota, long-time full size pickup laggard, gained with 78,454 Tundras (around 20,000 more than the first half of 2023).

Chrysler used to dominate full size cars; the 300 had around 3,700 sales, which easily beat the G80’s 2,130 (and there is no Toyota Avalon, Chevrolet Impala, or Ford 500 now). Genesis sales, indeed, were fairly low—but Genesis is now a fuller range while Chrysler has not just stagnated but lost 300 production entirely. For minivans, the Pacifica registered nearly 71,000 sales; that is well above the Hyundai Carnival (21,083), which is good—but even better, it clobbered the Odyssey, at under 40,000, and the Toyota Sienna, at around 33,000. This may be the Pacifica’s best market share ever.

The Durango has slacked to under 33,000 sales; those who claim that dropping V8s destroyed Dodge’s sales may be unaware of the many Challengers and Chargers with V8s on dealer lots, and the fact that the Durango is still made with the Hemi V8. The Ford Explorer, a rough equivalent, did well at 104,803 for the half-year; the Expedition was at over 43,000, too. Toyota’s Highlander beat 110,000 sales in its standard and Grand forms; either one beat Durango sales handily.

The Hornet has outsold the Alfa Romeo Tonale quite well, but reports of software flaws may damage its reputation. Few know how long the Hornet is supposed to stay in production, but it’s imported from Europe and unlikely to have ever been seen as a huge-volume mainstream car. Is it a test of Dodge’s ability to sell regular front wheel drive cars or hybrids or crossovers? Any of these could be true but the most likely explanation is the easiest—someone thought it was a cheap way to pad out Dodge’s product line and shift some expenses from Alfa Romeo’s budget to Dodge’s budget.

In fairness to FCA US, new product is coming later this year and then in a regular cadence through next year and the one after that. A new Chrysler is being defined, or so it seems; and Dodge is going to have its mainstay Charger replaced in a few months. Rumors have swirled around cheaper variants of the Charger, and STLA Medium is likely to provide Dodge and Chrysler and Jeep with new cars. A new 2025 Ram 1500 is in the works, and hasn’t had a chance to make any sales yet. This is not a pretty sales report, but it may not indicate anything other than bad timing.