The U.S. sales slide continued at Stellantis as the automaker on Friday reported another down quarter.
Sales dropped 16%, from 485,312 to 408,521 vehicles, in the second quarter of 2022, compared with the same period the prior year. It’s the fourth down quarterly report in a row for the automaker, which, like the rest of the auto industry, continues to grapple with supply chain challenges and tight inventory for popular models.
Charlie Chesbrough, senior economist for Cox Automotive, noted in a news release that “even though economic conditions have worsened in the past months, the lack of supply is still the greatest headwind facing the auto industry today.”
Stellantis’ percentage drop was similar to Detroit Three rival General Motors, which reported on Friday a more than 15% decline in its U.S. sales compared with the year-ago period.
Stellantis’ U.S. Head of Sales Jeff Kommor said in a company news release that “we continue to see strong demand for our vehicles. While there are certainly industry supply constraints, our dealers are working hard to satisfy the needs of every customer.”
The company, which reports sales as FCA US LLC, noted that retail sales, which are seen as more profitable than fleet sales, dropped 24% for the quarter. Commercial shipments rose 13% compared with the same period in 2021.
Across its brands, only Chrysler sales were up. That increase — 95% — was driven by a jump in fleet sales because of a backlog of orders, the company said.
For the other brands, the U.S. sales numbers were down across the bulk of their lineups, aside from a handful of models. Jeep was down 11%; Ram, 27%; Dodge, 30%; and Alfa Romeo, 39%. Fiat sold only 249 vehicles in the quarter, a decline from the 891 that were sold during the same period in 2021.
The company did not release sales numbers for its Maserati brand.
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There were bright spots in the numbers. Jeep Grand Cherokee sales were up 12%, for instance, and the highly profitable Jeep Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer, which were not yet being sold during the second quarter last year, added more than 14,000 vehicles to the sales mix. And in what could be a good sign for Jeep’s future electrified offerings, the plug-in hybrid electric Wrangler 4xe accounted for 20% of Wrangler sales, although total Wrangler sales were down 22%.
Dodge Durango sales, which were down 66%, would clearly have been affected by retooling at the Detroit Assembly Complex — Jefferson plant, previously known as Jefferson North, where the SUV is built. The plant resumed production on May 23, following an eight-week shutdown.
But in another closely watched area, Ram lost to the Chevrolet Silverado for what will likely be third place behind Ford’s F-Series in the Truck Wars. Ford reports its sales next week. Sales of Ram pickups were down 28% to 117,867. Silverado dropped 13% to 143,032 for the quarter.
Despite the sales decline, Michelle Krebs, executive analyst for Cox Automotive, said Stellantis actually isn’t in such bad shape in comparison to other automakers.
“We don’t have all of the numbers in yet and probably won’t until next week, but Stellantis performed as expected and likely a tad better than the overall industry. Stellantis has had more ample inventory to sell than other makers so that helps. In fact Stellantis brands have among the highest inventories in the industry,” Krebs said, noting that Ram had more than a 70 days’ supply in June, which is more in line with inventory levels before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Contact Eric D. Lawrence: elawrence@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter: @_ericdlawrence. Become a subscriber.