FCA sales in the rest of the world, esp USA, Europe and Middle East, Brazil

FCA sales in March 2016 for France and Spain

The french car market is up smartly by 8-9% overall, while the FIAT brand is up 15%+ (500X+500 mainly), as has been the case there over many months, outperforming all other mass-market brands. Alfa Romeo too is up better-than-market-average, boding very well indeed for French demand for the mid-April availaibility of the Giulia (bookings). JEEP, of course, continues to grow WAY better than most. Overall FCA is making stellar gains in France, second only to Italy in terms of sales- and marketshare gains in re-bounding (post-recession) Europe. The Tipo models have not yet or barely become available, and so huge outperformnce by the FIAT brand in France over the next months seems a given?

In Spain too Fiat and Jeep outperform the overall-market handily, albeit by a lesser amount than in France. The astonishing rapid and huge economic rebound in Spain last year (post-recession) is cooling noticeably, however, what with political issues etc.

Fiat and overall FCA has been a relatively small player in the huge executive leasing and rental-company market in Europe, barring vans, since FIAT was not quite present over the last several years in the c-hatch, SW, c- and d-sedan segments, model-offering-wise. With the amazingly priced Tipo triplets and the Alfa Giulia, to go with the 500X and Renegade: that is changed now. ERGO: higher sales, sales-growth and marketshare in Europe, ex-italy even, seems a given for FCA, even if the tepid economic rebound post-recession loses steam.

 

FCA sales in the USA for March 2016

FCA has achieved the well-nigh incredible in the usa market: 6 full and continuous years of sales growth, as well as marketshare growth over that period. March 2016 was the best-selling march for fca in over a decade, up 8% overall y-on-y.

Jeep growth continues, FCA sells more suv- and cuvs (including the Renegade, the Dodge Journey and 7-seat Durango, and the 500X+the famous Chrysler minivans) than any other firm in the huge-for-this-genre american market.

Jeep is the most-conquesting-of-other-firms' customers/owners brand of all in the usa market. The old Jeep Compass quite-soft CUV is selling very well and growing a lot, boding very well indeed for this sub-brand, for when the new c-suv/Compass arrives at the end of this year or so (made in mexico, not the usa.)

The Fiat Doblo and Ducato (as Ram Promaster/City), imported from Turkey, are gaining a hefty chunk of the van/uv market, hitherto dominated fully by Ford and Mercedes.

The Fiat brand has achieved good name-recognition but not-enough sales, what with the small-ness of the cars, their eurochic 'cutesiness' and of course the collapse in gasoline prices. FCA is now encouraging the owners of independent Fiat Studios to combine the sale and service of Fiats (small as their numbers are) in with the rest of their brand cars, so as not to lose money. Some will of course stay independent, becoming Alfa Romeo dealers for the Giulia and the other new models to start selling by year-end.

http://www.allpar.com/news/2016/04/fca-hits-a-homer-31557

--- Double Post Merged, Apr 2, 2016, Original Post Date: Apr 2, 2016 ---

They have completely stopped any incentives/discounting of the Chrysler 200 and the Dodge Dart (aka Chinese fiat viaggiio) both post-merger models that've failed to break the stranglehold of esp Toyota, Honda, Nissan and the Korean on this 'appliance car' dominated segment. The models were losing money, and the Japanese+Korean have been discounting aggressively, since they enjoy several thopusands of $ per car worth of depreciated-currency benefits and much lower total labour costs-in-usa-manufacture.

he portfolio is till growing well, despite the steep decline in mass-segment/high-sales-segment sales of the C 200 (v/s say Toyota Camry) and the Dodge Dart (v/s say Honda Civic).

ERGO: they're pushing up average transaction prices AND esp margins in the usa market (up and beyond 7-8% per car), as they've been successfully doing over the whole of the last 12 months.

The Chrysler Pacifica has just launched. It too will sell without any of the discounts that are attached to the still #1 Minivan in the usa market: the chrysler T&C aka Dodge Caravan. i.e., much higher margins+higher avg transaction prices.

March sales in Canada and Mexico, 2016

Up in both, by 3 odd % each. FCA remains the #1 autofirm in canada so far this year. And the canadian-made and splendid Pacifica minivan has ust launched. In mexico Fiats-rebadged as dodges or Rams are doing rather well within about a year1/2, and in Canada the post-merger Jeep models, the Cherokee esp but also the renegade are hits. Mexico will see manufacture of the new c-suv/Compass begin in sept apparently, and so good sales growth in that country is assured foreseeably+brazilian Toro+Mobi etc.

http://www.allpar.com/news/2016/04/canadian-mexican-sales-climbed-31563

--- Double Post Merged, Apr 2, 2016 ---

ITALY sales in March 2016: FCA

Overall market up 17+%, Italy continues its fast-rebound from the recessionary lows. Largely: credit goes to the PM Renzi, the centre-left reformist who has been acting seriously and ethically and has imbued a degree of trust and confidence in the Italian state and political system that it has lacked for 10-15 years or more. Italy's car market is by-far the most-rebuoyed of any in europe, ex-Germany which never had much of a recession in the first place.

PM Renzi is very closely associated with Marchionne-as-adviser and of course with John Elkann the head of FCA, its majority-owner EXOR (the holding company for the Agnelli-s that has been doing very well even independent of FCA, and also run mostly by Sergio Marchionne.)

Fiat brand outdoing the market at 22odd% growth. Alfa Romeo, though, is flat, while Jeep has also grown 23odd%, relative to March 2015. LANCIA, now just an Italy-only, female-buyer-centric brand has been growing sales of the Ypsilon (recently facelifted) very handily, 30%+.

Strong and well-informed/credible rumour has it that Lancia is being readied for a bigger push: via becoming FCA's europe-wide phev and hybrid-specialist 'semi-premium' brand specialist, starting with plush and highly refined avatars of the Tipo triplet of low-cost-high-value new Fiat models. And, possibly, the Chrysler Pacifica premium-plugin hybrid-minivan-as-a-Lancia. This Lancia idea was apparently discussed very seriously at a recent FCA board meeting called to decide on the BIG planned FURTHER all-new model-push for all of FCA's european brands+Jeep.

There was also apparently a decision to do 2 versions of the 2017 Punto-replacement: one each for the 'emotional, chic' more-expensive lineup of models (500, 500L, 500X, 124 Spider) and one for the low-cost-high-value 'rational, functional' lineup exemplified by the Panda and the new Tipo/Aegea-s. Plus of course all the 4-5 all-new Alfa-s and 2 new maserati-s by 2018 or so. Plus the new Jeep c-suv and the Jeep Cherokee-refresh, and presumably the emerging-market sub-renegade Jeep 'junior'....

FCA will be FINALLY cashing-in on the whole Marchionne strategy of lying-low for years in europe as it was low-profit and then very recessionary (esp italy), focussing instead on the American plants, brands and models. As, indeed, it already has been for over a year with rising sales and marketshare and the many all-new models out already this year (Tipox3, Giulia, 124 spider, new Abarths, new 500, new Fullback pickup, refreshed van lineup, new van: Talento....)

The strategy is now, clearly: ONLY make (semi)premium or luxe or sports models in italy, move production of most Fiats to low-cost countries (esp turkey, poland, serbia.....and brazil+india+china?)

i.e., rationalize the cost-structure, while investing in cutting-edge engineering for the new Alfa-s and Maseratis and Jeeps+all the huge marketing and service/dealer quality higher-than-ever spend for these premium or more brands.

SO FAR: the plan's going very sweetly indeed. The Alfa Romeo brand relaunch with the Giulia and the d-suv based off it in end 2016 will be the final hurdle to clear for FCA and Marchionne, as far as this long-standing strategic plan goes.

 

Notes on the ITALIAN market for FCA models in 2016 so far, already

-- The Italian car market is by-far the fastest growing, and sustainedly for the last year and more, european-country market.

-- It has already recovered its customary second-biggest-after-Germany size. ALREADY. With massive pentup demand still waiting to be tapped, since total sales volumes are still well-down on the high-points of 2007/2008 (i.e., just before the global financial crisis struck).

-- The Fiat Tipo has sold 5700 odd cars in 2016, in 3 months, JUST the sedan. This is a truly amazing number, since Italy is not at all a sedan-friendly market, and FIAT has rarely offered a sizeable sedan there in the past, ever. The Tipo sedan's predescessor in Turkey etc, the Linea, was never sold in Itlay, i think. The Italian-market sales of the Tipo hatch and SW will be huger!

-- All the recent Marchionne-era, post-merger models continue to grow sales month-on-month in 2016 AND y-on-y: even the Alfa Giulietta and Fiat 500L, let alone the hot-selling new/facelifted 500, the Panda, the 500X and the Renegade.

-- Italy has recieved the JEEP brand especially well in europe, as has Germany, including the bigger, much-more expensive Cherokee, Wrangler and Grand Cherokee.

-- Italy itself will be a sizeable little market for the Maserati Levante and the new bigger Alfa sedans, sporty-cuv-s and coupe-s, nevermind Germany, China, the Usa, the UK or Japan.

-- Most if not all the recent and upcoming FCA models are near-total 'white space' ones that are entering market segments in Italy that the FIAT Group had, for financial weakness + financial strategy reasons, vacated or avoided over the last decade or more (e.g., Tipo d-sedan+SW+hatch, Alfa sedan and cuv-s, SUV-s). i.e., very easy, high-margin CONQUEST sales from mainly the German brands+Skoda+Ford+Peugeot-Citroen-DS.

--Like with Germany and the UK as well as france (the other big car markets in europe) FCA in Italy is poised to grab a chunk of the huge (thanks to ultra-cheap executive leasing in europe these days) Merc/BMW/Audi/Porsche segments, by attacking from below, as it were, with Jeep+Alfa(+Abarth+500X...) and from above via the new, less exotic and much-less expensive Maserati-s like the just-launched Levante sports suv and the Ghibli.

 

FCA sales in Germany, March 2016

FCA's year-on-year overall total tally is down a bit, relative to the market which is showing some signs of going-soft, alongwith Germany's economy as-a-whole. The market overall is 0% up or down.

However, FCA's main non-sports brands (fiat, alfa and Jeep) have all grown further in each month in 2016. Down y-on-y, but up-month-on-month. Which of course suggests that FCA's progress in the German market is intact.

Sales of the Jeep Cherokke and Wrangler seem to've been hit though, largely i think because of price rises born of the expensive us$/cheapened-by-ecb euro. The Fiat 500, Panda, 500X, 500L and Renegade continue to grow well in sales. The retiring-in-year, cut-price Punto+its sibling the Alfa Mito are, of course, down a lot, as they are indeed even in home-country Italy, understandably. The Alfa Giulietta has grown smartly-enough, boding very well for the coming-on-road-very-soon Giulia, a car that is MUCH more German-market-suited.

Germany is a sedan and suv-centric market and so FCA's growth has been hamstrung by Fiat's recent absence of such models, and has depended overmuch on Jeep. But with the Tipo c/d-segment vfm models (ideal for rental, taxi and executive fleets, which are HUGE in germany) and of course the Alfa Romeo Giulia FCA seems poised to grow well in germany's huge, 3 million car market, despite the heavy-heavy domination there by the 'domestic' manufacturers. VW brand sales are consistently down over the last few months even in germany, so....the Germans are perhaps not as blind to non-german cars as it often appears.

 

Sales in Great Britain, March 2016

The market overall is up again around 5.5%. After a long while FCA has grown far ahead of the market avaerage for march, the month when drivers/owners get their license plates. March tends to be a big month for car firms, and esp FCA (2014 and 2015) but this march the Fiat, Alfa and Jeep brands have all grown very strongly, y-on-y. It appears that the facelift of the Fiat 500+new touchscreen/drl-s etc is now being better accepted in the UK: it is back in the UK top-ten model sales after a year. The UK has always been one the 500's best markets.

Alfa's growth is commendable, and means good things for the coming-very-soon rhd Giulia sports sedan. The 500X and Renegade are getting even-better traction. It seems that FCA is making a breakthrough in the leasing-company market (huge in britain, at ultra-low interest rates) since it now combines Fiat, Alfa, Fiat Professional and Jeep too. This will be vital for Alfa with the upcoming new models, since so many/most sales of Audi, BMW and even Mercedes are to/via leasing companies at low or rather discounted margins.

Other Notes:

The 500X is the fastest growing in sales y-on-y model of ANY brand or firm in Europe.

The Panda has achieved its highest-ever sales number last month, europe-wide, but mostly Italy.

JEEP is still among the fastest growing, more or less, automotive brands in europe, despite the stellar sales gains, already, over the last 2 years, esp via the Renegade. JEEP and Alfa Romeo dealers will be common in most european countries henceforth.

Together the 500X and the Renegade, unlike-twins, are in the top-5 of their segment, and growing better-than-most-others.

The Tipo sedan has an order backlog given demand in turkey+italy/spain etc: remains to be seen whether they are forced to slowdown the launch of the hatch and the SW in some of the other, more northern+UK markets, as the production and supply chain etc is ramped-up?

 

FCA sales in Brazil and Argentina, march 2016

In brazil the car market downturn continues unabated, as does that of the brazilian economy in-general. Down 22odd% y-on-y again. The change this time is that FIAT's sales dip is less-in-excess of the overall market's (the top 3 brands, fiat+chevy+vw have been dipping around 40+%, disproportionately greatly), 'just' 29odd%.

That is the effect of the (ralatively) new Launches, the Jeep Renegade and the Toro pickup, both higher-priced-than-any-previous Fiat brazil model, and both great hits, made at the state-of-the-art WCM susw-platform specialising plant+supplier park at Pernambuco, NE Brazil. The Toro has several months' of a waiting period.

The MOBI launches day day now, too.

FIAT has begun a complete and rapid overhaul and 'premiumization' of its entire lineup with these models, and is set very fair in Brazil, no matter the recession, which is likely bottoming out now.

In sept or so the C-suv Jeep (the india one) will be localized and launched. And a refreshed/facelifted+new engined Nuvo Uno.

Followed by the big one: the all-new Palio/Punto in early 2017 and the all-new Grand Sienna later in the year (made in Argentina.) End-2017or 2018 will see the Toro suv-avatar (same as new Dodge Journey/Fiat Freemont?)

In Argentina, there is an economic pickup with a poltical-economic turnaround underway now. The car market, after so many years of being in the dumps, is growing again strongly (off a smaller base though): 13% up this month, again.

The Fiat+Alfa brands have grown sales about that much. Fiat is the #4 brand in Argentina, but that'll very likely change, given the new investments just announced of 500million$ into the Cordoba plant for the making and heavy-localizing of the new Grand Sienna (x6h) @ 100000 a year, more for exports to brazil, mexico et al, of course. No word yet on launching Jeep in Argentina yet. That should happen soon. However, the currency depreciation-situation is even-worse here, still, than in Brazil, so absolute sales numbers for Jeep seem limited to the brazilian-made ones?

 

http://www.allpar.com/news/2016/04/eurojeep-sales-gains-31628

Europe sales (up a lot) and marketshare as-a-whole (up) for FCA, esp Jeep and Fiat.

If Fiat and Fiat Professional van numbers (Doblo, Fiorino, Ducato, Daily, Talento, Scudo, Qubo) are added+ sales of Abarth+Maserati: FCA is now bigger in sales in europe than Ford and GM/Opel, the 4th largest, behind VW group, Renault-Nissan and Peugeot-Citroen (even with their vans counted).

 

FCA sales in Turkey and Japan, march 2016

FCA is up plenty in Japan, where the market as-a-whole is down again 8odd%. Fiat, Alfa, Abarth, Jeep, Maserati and Ferrari all up. The few firms whose sales are rising a lot in this deflationary economy are pretty much all european luxe/sports marques (barring the VAG group, being punished by consumers as it is for the diesel emissions etc cheating: the Japanese take emissions stuff VERY seriously). So is FCA, with the added difference that Jeep is very popular in Japan, despite rather than because of being the only American marque given any credence there. Indeed, Ford recently abandoned Japan altogether. Japan remains a very very large autosales market, with an ever-increasing bias in favour of high-priced, characterful models and marques, hence FCA's success there recently. There is plenty of FCA sales growth pent-up in Japan, nevermind the permanent-recession/deflation in that economy: the Jeep Cherokee is only just launching there, the 124 Spider+Abarth version thereof, the Maserati Levante, and by end-2017/2018: rhd new Jeep Compass and Renegade (presumably exported from either India or China).

FCA sales are up in Turkey, in a flat-overall market that is somewhat precariously positioned, what with all the geopolitical and geo-economic and domestic-political issues going on in and around Turkey. Mainly thanks to the Aegea sedan, which was sold around 3000 times in march, already displacing the Linea as FCA's best-seller model. It will, like the linea, very likely endup soon as the single best selling car of any marque or firm, as production ramp-up completes (remember all european-market Tipo models, from sedan to SW, are Turkey-made). Van sales are buoying up again, Alfa Romeo is up, but Jeep, for some reason, is seeing a sharp decline in year-on-year sales, perhaps the American-association is being under-appreciated by many Turks these days? Or, more likely: it is just too pricey (even the Renegade) given the depreciation of the turkish lira.

 

Profits for Q1 FY16-17 more than doubled. The ONLY firm in the owrld, barring the luxe German marques, to be net-profit positive in ALL world-market-regions.

The profit machine is just 'revving up': the accretion of revenues and margins from the new launches for the Fiat brand in Brazil (MOBI) and in europe (Tipo hatch+SW, 124 Spider, Abarth-s, new Fiat Fullback), the maserai levante, and the Alfa Guilia + the scorching-fast new sales of Jeep in China (from the recently inaugurated 2 Jeep cusw+susw plants) + the Chrysler Pacifica will show up only next quarter, and following (the new Jeep c-suv will be added at year-end, too).

http://www.autonews.com/article/201...hrysler-q1-profit-surges-on-strong-jeep-sales

Having decided that available merger proposals (for lowering costs, boosting scale and scope of markets' coverage, boosting margins) such as Peugeot-Citroen are not as yet ideal, marchionne has altered the focus to NOT boosting sales numbers and marketshare growth (which, though, continues apace in the usa and is faster than almost any other firm in rebounding, stable europe+the new China local production-based big sales number pickup underway and accelerating) but

to, by 2018, eliminating the 5-6 billion$ odd net debt, and achieving 15 billion$ of adjusted earnings globally.

FCA will, it appears, to slowing-down and 'right-sizing' the portfolio of models offered in the USA market/under the usa brands, getting rid of some models altogether (Dodge dart, Chrysler 200 sedan, the Jeep Patriot,....) while making some more all-new models in mexico (the upcoming Jeep c-suv) and while cutting discounts on some nameplates, and 'delaying' the arrival of some all-new replacement models (e.g., next-gen Chrysler 300 or Dodge Charger, etc).

The idea seems to be to squeeze maximal possible profits out of the near-boom-peak USA market, and use that to (a) retire debt and (b) catch-up and accelerate/overtake (fca has last month overtaken ford and gm/opel in europe-wide sales) outside of the usa via new fiats, new global-market Jeeps, new maserati-s and of course all-new Alfa romeo-s.

So that, by end of FY 2018, the endgame of a big-merger (this time on better, favourable financial terms) with some large autofirm or the other, who knows possibly even one from China, ca be effectuated before Marchionne retires in 2019/2020.

 

FCA sales in Italy+france for April 2016

Up, more than the market average (as has been usual here for the past year or so) in both of these large markets. And....the Tipo sedan alone has again, surprisingly given that Italy is NOT a sedan market at these price points, nearly 3000 cars. The hatchback has just been launched, as has the Alfa Guilia, so the outperfromance in these markets is set VERY fair for the year. JEEP continues to outgrow the market average, almost all other brands from any company, with the new c-suv/new compass not even there yet The Fiat brand's outperformance, though still intact, though appears to be slowing in italy. But that is probably to-be expected, given its brand self-limiting to a/b/c segments. The new Jeep and Fiat c-suv-s will, alongwith the Alfa guilia, be the fresh and main, 'white space' plays for FCA over the next year or more, till the new-Punto and the rumoured new Punto-twin 500-type model (or a smaller than 500X cuv?) launch in mid or late 2017.

Europe-wide, BOTH the 500X and the Renegade have been growing strongly month-on-month for a while now. The 500X sold 10000+ europe-wide in march and the renegade 7000 or so. Hits, well-timed models for the HUGE shift-to-cuv/suv-s that's occuring in europe.

Fiat Professional vans+Iveco (from Doblo to Daily via Ducato) have also been selling well since the european recession ended 2 odd years ago, up i think by about 8-10% last month.