Chrysler 200 Demand Dries Up As FCA Tries To Clear 200 Inventory Glut

Timothy Cain
by Timothy Cain

The plan was straightforward. With demand for conventional midsize cars gradually decreasing and buyers in Fiat Chrysler’s U.S. showrooms increasingly turning to flexible Jeep SUVs, Chrysler 200 production would be temporarily shut down. Inventory was piling up. Inventory needed to be cleared out.

Rather than build more sedans, which would simply be piled up on top of existing unsold 200s, a six-week production hiatus would allow time for 200 supply and demand to realign at more realistic levels.

But the clear-out of those existing, unsold 200s — Automotive News says Chrysler had a 217-day supply of 47,000 200s at the beginning of February — isn’t having any measurable impact on 200 sales. In fact, while FCA wants to see 200s leaving showrooms in order for space to be created for new 200s once production is reignited, demand for the 200 is drying up.

We reported this one month ago, helping to explain why FCA announced in late January that 200 production would be paused. January volume tumbled 63 percent, an 8,957-unit year-over-year decline for FCA’s sole remaining intermediate car.

Surely this was nothing more than an anomaly though, right? Surely surging Fiat Chrysler could sell a swoopy design with a class-leading V6 powerplant and available all-wheel drive in one of America’s most popular new vehicle categories, right? The strange timing of incentives and product mixes and winter storms and GOP debates must have briefly caused 200 buyers to temporarily disappear, right?

Chrysler 200 sales then plunged 58 percent in February 2016, a 9,208-unit year-over-year decrease.

U.S. sales of midsize cars actually increased in February. The segment is slowing, but it’s far from dead. Overall, February sales of new vehicles jumped 7 percent in the U.S.; midsize car volume was up little more than 1 percent, a modest improvement powered by big gains at Chevrolet (Malibu up 53 percent), Ford (Fusion up 12 percent), Honda (Accord up 19 percent), and Hyundai (Sonata up 25 percent).

Total Chrysler brand sales are down 24 percent so far this year, a startlingly poor result for a namesake brand at a fast-growing manufacturer in an exceedingly healthy market. U.S. auto sales last month rose to the highest February level since 2001. It was the best February for FCA/Chrysler Group since 2006. Year-over-year, sales across the FCA conglomerate increased 10 percent.

At the Chrysler brand, however, the losses which have occurred through 2016’s first two months all stem from the 200. In advance of the Pacifica’s arrival, Town & Country volume rose by a quarter to 18,030 through January and February. Sales of the 300 are also up 25 percent, producing the best start to a year for the flagship sedan in three years.

January and February are low-volume months on the auto sales calendar, but the bright spots in FCA’s car division are still worthy of note. Working with the 300’s 25-percent uptick are improvements from the Challenger and Charger, the latter of which is roundly outselling the 200 in America this year.

The list of of FCA products currently outselling the 200 would be too lengthy to list if this was a print publication. Every Jeep, even the the Patriot, Compass, and Renegade. Both minivans. Ram’s lone pickup truck (by nearly six-to-one). The Charger, Dart, Durango, and Journey, too.

Only 3.5 percent of the FCA vehicles sold in January and February were Chrysler 200 sedans.

The car’s midsize market share, rising to 9 percent at this stage of 2015, fell below 4 percent in 2016’s first two months.

One year ago, only 17 nameplates — and only eight cars — were outselling the 200, sales of which had jumped 31 percent year-over-year. But presently, the 200 is America’s 68th-best-selling vehicle and the 24th-best-selling car, a fall from grace typically witnessed only with discontinued cars or when cars are in the midst of transitioning into a new generation.

In the case of Chrysler’s midsize sedan, even if the car had debuted in mid-2014 to industry-wide “best-in-class” declarations, it would still have taken more than a generation for Chrysler to cement a positive reputation. But Chrysler did not introduce a car that was widely praised as best-in-class. Chrysler is not synonymous in the midsize sector with reliability, perceived quality, and long-term durability. And the midsize sector is chock full of buyers who turn most often to the sedans with the most deeply entrenched reputations for reliability.

Fortunately for Fiat Chrysler, none of this appears to relate at all to the company’s ability to succeed with pickup trucks and SUVs. Jeep, Ram, and Dodge’s two utility vehicles, which produced nearly seven out of every ten FCA sales in January and February, collectively produced a 19-percent improvement equal to 36,000 additional sales.

Not only does such a gain offset the loss of 18,000 Chrysler 200 sales, it also offsets the 2,400-unit decline from another FCA namesake product, the Fiat 500.

[Images: Fiat Chrysler Automobiles North America]

Timothy Cain is the founder of GoodCarBadCar.net, which obsesses over the free and frequent publication of U.S. and Canadian auto sales figures. Follow on Twitter @goodcarbadcar and on Facebook.

Timothy Cain
Timothy Cain

More by Timothy Cain

Comments
Join the conversation
2 of 127 comments
  • Laserwizard Laserwizard on Mar 07, 2016

    The problem with Chrysler is that it doesn't stand for anything anymore. Chrysler was the upscale answer for MOPAR to compete with lincoln and cadillac (now cadihack after its road rabies styling). Now Chrysler is at a level (or lower) than Honduh or Toyoduh. There is nothing special here. The 200 should have been a Dodge and Chrysler should be working on premium products that are more exclusive (lower volume that can command a higher price tag). Now if Chrysler wants to continue what it is, it needs to get rid of Dodge and consolidate its models into Chrysler and then just be a step up from Dodge's former rancid level). I don't know if Chrysler is premium enough to compete against Kia.

  • 1st_one 1st_one on Mar 09, 2016

    I rented a 200 last summer and it actually wasn’t a bad car, I’ve been in far worse. IMO, the 200 is one of the best looking cars in the midsize segment but Marchionne’s comments to kill the car that was plastered across the internet sealed this cars fate. If I was into midsize vehicle's, the fully loaded 200c would certainly be near the top of my list.

  • El scotto Under NAFTA II or the USMCA basically the US and Canada do all the designing, planning, and high tech work and high skilled work. Mexico does all the medium-skilled work.Your favorite vehicle that has an Assembled in Mexico label may actually cross the border several times. High tech stuff is installed in the US, medium tech stuff gets done in Mexico, then the vehicle goes back across the border for more high tech stuff the back to Mexico for some nuts n bolts stuff.All of the vehicle manufacturers pass parts and vehicles between factories and countries. It's thought out, it's planned, it's coordinated and they all do it.Northern Mexico consists of a few big towns controlled by a few families. Those families already have deals with Texan and American companies that can truck their products back and forth over the border. The Chinese are the last to show up at the party. They're getting the worst land, the worst factories, and the worst employees. All the good stuff and people have been taken care of in the above paragraph.Lastly, the Chinese will have to make their parts in Mexico or the US or Canada. If not, they have to pay tariffs. High tariffs. It's all for one and one for all under the USMCA.Now evil El Scotto is thinking of the fusion of Chinese and Mexican cuisine and some darn good beer.
  • FreedMike I care SO deeply!
  • ClayT Listing is still up.Price has been updated too.1983 VW Rabbit pickup for sale Updated ad For Sale Message Seller [url=https://www.vwvortex.com/members/633147/] [/url] jellowsubmarine 0.00 star(s) (0.0) 0 reviews [h2]$19,000 USD Check price[/h2][list][*] [url=https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=1983 VW Rabbit pickup for sale Updated ad] eBay [/url][/*][/list] Ceres, California Apr 4, 2024 (Edited Apr 7, 2024)
  • KOKing Unless you're an employee (or even if you are) does anyone care where physically any company is headquartered? Until I saw this story pop up, I'd forgotten that GM used to be in the 'Cadillac Building' until whenever it was they moved into RenCen (and that RenCen wasn't even built for GM). It's not like GM moved to Bermuda or something for a tax shelter (and I dunno maybe they ARE incorporated there legally?)
  • Fred It just makes me question GM's management. Do they save rent money? What about the cost of the move? Don't forget they have to change addresses on their forms. New phone numbers? Lost hours?
Next