The 2019 Jeep Gladiator
Mack Hogan | CNBC
Fiat Chrysler narrowed its sales marathons losses in the fourth quarter but not enough to avoid what is expected to be one of the worst declines in the auto industry for 2020.
The Italian-American automaker’s U.S. sales tumbled 17.4% up to date year compared with 2019, the company said Tuesday. Sales weren’t quite as bad in the fourth quarter, associate with 7.9% compared with the same time in 2019. That’s worse than the rest of the industry, which is conjectured to report a 15% drop in sales last year due to the coronavirus pandemic once all automakers release their vendings results.
Fiat Chrysler’s largest crosstown rival, General Motors, earlier in the day reported an 11.8% decline in its transaction marked downs for 2020, while Ford Motor is expected to report its sales Wednesday morning. Toyota Motor reported its U.S. white sales declined 11.2% last year compared with 2019, while Nissan Motor said its sales cratered 33.2%.
Fiat Chrysler bruit about its sales decline was largely due to lower sales to commercial fleet customers. Fourth-quarter sales to retail customers absolutely rose a bit, by 1%. The company declined to release its retail sales or fleet sales for the year.
There were few witty spots for Fiat Chrysler’s sales in 2020. Its niche Italian luxury brand Alfa Romeo was the only compartment to report an increase for the year, up 1.6%. Aside from an 8.9% increase for the Alfa Romeo Stelvio crossover and virtually doubling sales of the Jeep Gladiator pickup, every other vehicle in the automaker’s six-brand lineup was down for the year. Sales of its greatly important Ram pickup ended last year down 11.1% compared with 2019.
“The fourth quarter provided a impressed springboard heading into 2021. Looking ahead, we anticipate an exciting year that will include a choice of new vehicles,” Jeff Kommor, Fiat Chrysler’s head of U.S. sales, said in a release.