Challenger’s Sales for 2019 Show New, Interesting Trend
Challenger sales went down by nearly 10 percent last year, but the Mopar muscle car is more than twice as popular as it was in 2009.
Earlier this month, FCA US LLC released its sales figures for 2019. We’ve taken a look at them and…most of them are in the red. The same goes for the Dodge Challenger, but its numbers look more positive if you go back far enough.
Last year was not a great year for FCA here in the United States. Its overall sales were down 2 percent in the fourth quarter to 542,519 units and one percent to 2,203,663 units for 2019 as a whole (fleet sales accounted for 22.7 of total sales). Considering the performance of brands such as Fiat and Alfa Romeo, those final numbers could’ve been much worse.
In Q4, all but one of Fiat’s four models posted double-digit losses, which contributed to Fiat’s sales decrease of 49 percent. Every single Fiat model’s sales dipped sharply over the course of 2019 and led to the automaker suffering a 41 percent nosedive. Alfa Romeo did better, but it didn’t post gains in either period. The Italian sports car manufacturer moved 12 percent fewer vehicles in Q4 and 23 percent fewer vehicles throughout all of 2019.
Chrysler also brought FCA’s numbers down. Its Pacifica minivan gave it a three percent boost in Q4 sales, but it didn’t have help from any other model. Chrysler’s figures were down by 15 for Q4 and 23 percent for the year.
Even the almighty Jeep brand had a rough 2019, ending the year with a five percent decrease in sales volume. Its Ram trucks cousins picked up the slack, though. Pickup buyers drove home seven percent more Ram 1500s, 2500s, and 3500s in Q4 2019 than they did in Q4 2018 and 18 percent more of them over 2019 than they did the year before, helping make 2019 Ram’s best year since it became a standalone brand in 2009. The ProMaster Van was also a hit; its sales shot up by one and 21 percent, respectively.
Although Charger sales were up 23 percent in Q4 and 21 percent for 2019, Dodge’s sales went down by eight percent last year. So what about the Challenger? You have to look at its history. The Challenger’s figures were down one and nine percent in the same time periods. However, according to Jalopnik, Dodge moved more than twice as many Challengers last year (60,997) than it did way back in the 2009 model year (25,852), the year after Dodge brought back its legendary performance car. In fact, Dodge didn’t hit its peak of Challenger sales until 2018, when it put 66,716 into the garages and driveways of power-hungry car enthusiasts.
Last year’s numbers may have been a little south of that, but the good news is that they beat the Camaro’s U.S. sales figures of 48,265 units.
Photos: Dodge
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