Jeep US Sales Tumble 12% in December; FCA Sales Down 8% in 2017

By Paul Ausick Updated Jan 12, 4:54AM EST · Published Jan 3, 10:55AM EST

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Jeep US Sales Tumble 12% in December; FCA Sales Down 8% in 2017 — © courtesy of FCA US LLC

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V. (NYSE: FCAU) reported December and full-year 2017 U.S. sales results Wednesday morning. For the full year, sales fell 8% compared with 2016, from 2.244 million to 2.059 million units.

Year over year, sales dropped 11% in December to 171,946 units. The Jeep brand posted a sales drop of 12% year over year as the Jeep Patriot showed a year-over-year sales decline of 97% and the Renegade posted a sales drop of 37%. Grand Cherokee sales rose 2%, Cherokee sales rose 18% and Compass sales increased by 10%.

Analysts at Kelley Blue Book (KBB) had projected December sales at 170,000 units, an 11.7% year-over-year decrease. KBB also estimated an average selling price of $37,446 for December, up 1.3% year over year and up 0.1% month over month.

FCA continues to implement a strategy of reducing sales to daily rental car companies. December fleet sales were down 42% year over year to 21,174 units.

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The company’s Jeep brand sold a total of 73,205 units in December. The Jeep Wrangler sold 13,700 units in the month, while Grand Cherokee sales rose to 23,622 units.

Ram pickup sales decreased 7% in December to 49,876 units. Last year, Ram sold 53,597 pickups in the month.

Sales of the company’s Chrysler brand rose 3% as sales of the Chrysler 200 fell 87% year over year in November to 332. FCA continues to try to sell all dealer inventory on this discontinued model. Sales of the Chrysler 300 jumped 60% to 5,726 units. The new Pacifica minivan posted December sales of 11,144 units, up 8% for the month.

The company’s Dodge brand sales fell 23% year over year in December, as sales of every model declined. Dodge Caravan sales slipped 1% to 6,623 units in the month. The company’s Journey compact SUV saw sales drop by 57% year over year to 4,227 units sold in December.

Retail sales dipped 3% year over year in December and represented 88% of all unit sales. Alfa Romeo sales rose 3,812% in November, as sales of the new Giulia pushed the total to 2,034 for the month and 12,031 for the year to date.

FCA’s shares traded up about 1.3% Wednesday morning, at $18.68 in a 52-week range of $9.05 to $18.69. The high was posted this morning. The consensus price target on the stock is $23.36.

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About the Author Paul Ausick →

Paul Ausick has been writing for a673b.bigscoots-temp.com for more than a decade. He has written extensively on investing in the energy, defense, and technology sectors. In a previous life, he wrote technical documentation and managed a marketing communications group in Silicon Valley.

He has a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Chicago and now lives in Montana, where he fishes for trout in the summer and stays inside during the winter.