Fiat Chrysler October Sales Tumble 10%

Year over year, sales plunged 10% at Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V. (NYSE: FCAU) in October to 176,609 units. The Jeep brand posted a sales drop of 7% year over year, as the Jeep Cherokee showed a sales decline of 23% and the Compass and Renegade each posted a monthly sales drop of 9%. Grand Cherokee sales rose 9% and Patriot sales were up 2%.

According to TrueCar, FCA’s incentive spending rose to $4,388 per unit, up 23% year over year and down 1% compared with September 2016. Unit incentive spending totaled $4,404 at Ford and $4,417 at GM, up 30% and 14%, respectively, year over year.

Analysts at WardsAuto had projected October sales at 176,000 units, and Edmunds.com analysts estimated that the company would sell 178,245 units last month, a 10.6% year-over-year decrease. KBB also estimated an average selling price of $36,433 for October, up 0.3% year over year and up 5.7% month over month.

The company’s Jeep brand sold a total of 68,826 units in October and has sold a nine-month total of 775,932, up 10% year over year. The all-new Jeep Renegade has sold 84,494 units for the year to date, up 90% compared with the same period last year.

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Ram pickup sales increased 7% in October to 43,891 units, and posted a year-to-date sales increase of 8%. Last year, Ram sold 41,042 pickups in October.

Year over year, sales of the company’s Chrysler brand dived 45%, as sales of the Chrysler 200 fell 69% year over year in October to 2,843. FCA is doing its best to sell all dealer inventory on this discontinued model. Sales of the Chrysler 300 tumbled 29% to 3,051 units. The all-new Pacifica minivan posted October sales of 7,758, and has sold 43,330 since first becoming widely available in April.

The company’s Dodge brand sales fell 16% year over year in October, while sales of the Dodge Caravan dropped 15% to 11,563 units in the month. The company’s Journey compact SUV got a sales boost of 17% year over year to 11,912 units sold in October.

Chrysler’s shares traded up about 0.6% Monday morning, at $7.36 in a 52-week range of $5.45 to $9.72.

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