---
title: "Fiat-Chrysler Sales Drop in U.S. Amid Industry-Wide Decline"
description: "We clearly didn't buy enough Hellcats."
date: "2017-04-03"
modified: "2017-04-03"
authors:
  - name: "Kyle Cheromcha"
    job_title: "Editor-in-Chief"
    link: "https://www.thedrive.com/authors/kyle-cheromcha"
url: "https://www.thedrive.com/news/8892/fiat-chrysler-sales-drop-in-u-s-amid-industry-wide-decline"
categories:
  - "Chrysler News"
  - "News"
  - "News by Brand"
tags:
  - "Chrysler"
  - "FCA"
  - "Fiat Chrysler"
---

# Fiat-Chrysler Sales Drop in U.S. Amid Industry-Wide Decline

![](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/images-by-url-td/content/2017/04/gettyimages-486111028.jpg>)
*\<em\>www.thedrive.com</em>*

For the seventh month in a row, Fiat-Chrysler's U.S. sales were flagged as the company reported a nearly 5 percent drop in March and an 8.4 percent decline in the overall number of cars sold in the first three months of the year compared to 2016. The company makes some of the most enthusiast-oriented cars on the market, but all the Hellcats in the world apparently aren't enough to give its struggling portfolio of brands a boost in a month that saw more than a few disappointed manufacturers as the industry's red-hot pace over the last two years starts to cool off a bit.

[Digging into the numbers](<https://media.fcanorthamerica.com/newsrelease.do?id=18224&mid=1>), it's clear that CEO Sergio Marchionne's focus on large crossovers and trucks means FCA basically lives and dies by the Jeep brand in this country. With Jeep's performance down by 11 percent—thanks to plummeting interest in the outgoing Patriot and Compass and people looking ahead to the next Wrangler—even an incredibly strong month by Dodge and a 100 percent increase in Journey sales couldn't keep the whole team in the black.

The company's namesake brands are also in a little trouble, with Fiat off 5 percent and Chrysler plunging 33 percent, compared to March last year. Part of that latter number comes from the death of the 200 sedan, but the reborn Pacifica has yet to replicate the volume once produced by the Town & Country. The regular Fiat 500 actually gained a few sales, but consumers aren't exactly flocking to its X and L variants.

It's not all bad news, of course. Aside from Dodge, people are still digging the RAM brand, and Alfa Romeo sales skyrocketed 1191 percent, thanks to the launch of the new Giulia. And Maserati sales rose as well, though it's possible [not all those customers are entirely satisfied.](<https://www.thedrive.com/article/8665/maserati-levante-recall-channels-jeep-in-all-the-wrong-ways>) We'll see how much the highly-anticipated launch of the [Dodge Demon](<https://www.thedrive.com/article/8781/dodge-challenger-srt-demon-uses-the-ac-to-cool-the-engine>) can move the needle for FCA in the months ahead.

## Author
Overseeing an expert staff of writers and editors from his lair in Los Angeles, Kyle shapes The Drive’s singular approach to covering the automotive industry and car culture. He’s been with the site as a writer since 2017, taking over as editor in 2019. On a daily basis, Kyle is responsible for directing The Drive's editorial news and car review content strategies, setting special coverage priorities, managing complex reporting projects, and ensuring what you read on the page meets our high internal standards for quality and trustworthiness. He is also the executive producer of The Drive's YouTube channel, which was relaunched in February 2024 to great acclaim and has accumulated over 14M new views in its first year back on the scene. He hosts a biweekly series on the channel where he breaks down fascinating and complicated stories from the automotive world.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/kylecheromcha.bsky.social>)  
[Instagram](<https://www.instagram.com/kylecheromcha>)  
[LinkedIn](<https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyle-cheromcha-1550248a/>)