Chrysler Group's August Sales Look Better Without Fiat

We can look at this two different ways. “Chrysler Group LLC today reported U.S. sales of 198,379 units, a 20 percent increase compared with sales in August 2013 (165,552 units), and the group’s best August sales since 2002,” their press release said at the beginning of this month.

Chrysler, Dodge, Fiat, Jeep, and Ram combined for an industry-leading 19.8% year-over-year improvement. With 198,379 sales, Chrysler Group LLC eclipsed their previous 2014 best (May) and reached a twelve-year August high and marked the 53rd consecutive month of year-over-year growth and climbed to the highest sales level since May 2007, when 199,393 vehicles were sold by Chrysler, Dodge, and Jeep brands.

During no month in a 62-month span beginning in January 2008 did the Chrysler Group ever sell more than 190,000 vehicles in a single month.

Yet in August, the Chrysler Group’s rate of improvement would have looked better if Fiat was excluded from the picture, not unlike your older brother’s interloping girlfriend at the tense immediate-family-only photo session on the beach last summer.

With Fiat? Chrysler Group LLC sales rose 19.8%, a 32,827-unit jump. Without Fiat? Chrysler Group LLC sales rose 20.9%, a 33,655-unit increase.

This is a small difference, and it was a difference created in part by a knee airbag recall situation that led Fiat 500L sales to slow to a crawl: only 33 were sold in August, down from a monthly average of 1340 units over the previous five months. Sales of the core 500 model actually increased in August, rising 12% to 3329 units, the first YOY increase for the 500 since May of last year.

If all we intended to discuss was a unique situation which led to an atypical decrease at Fiat, there really wouldn’t be a discussion. But it’s becoming increasingly clear that Fiat’s actual car lineup isn’t about to become a major player in the U.S. market or, more precisely, in the Chrysler family, not in America. August wasn’t an irregular month on that front; it’s a trend that’s been steadily taking hold.

In the second half of 2011, the Fiat brand accounted for 2.7% of Chrysler Group LLC volume in the United States. That figure held in 2012 but fell to 2.4% in 2013 even with a new model contributing more than 7000 extra sales. By July, the number had fallen to 2.3% (and 1.7% in August) despite expansion in the brand’s lineup.

Whether you believe Fiat was the saviour in the FCA conglomerate or you figure the Italian (formerly?) automaker was handed the keys to a safe that would eventually fill up with cash, the vehicles powering the Chrysler Group right now aren’t cute, little cars which cater to a cross-section of the market that demands fuel efficiency in this unstable world. 21% of the company’s August sales were derived from the Fiat brand, Dodge Dart, Jeep Cherokee, Ram ProMaster, and the Chrysler 200.

Lacking necessary outside investment and a partner willing to take a plunge in what was a time of great upheaval, Chrysler could have quickly faded away had this sea-change of a relationship not formed five years ago.

Yet 61% of Chrysler Group’s August volume was generated by the Ram truck lineup, two minivans, the Jeep Wrangler and Grand Cherokee, and Dodge’s Journey and Durango, up only slightly from a 58% share in calendar year 2009. The more things change…

Timothy Cain is the founder of GoodCarBadCar.net, which obsesses over the free and frequent publication of U.S. and Canadian auto sales figures.