Waiting for the U.S. May sales reports, analysts forcast the results to be slightly down mainly because of two fewer selling days than in May 2015.
In the particular case of Fiat Chrysler however, the automaker is likely to register its 74th consecutive year-over-year sales increase in May and it is mainly due to the minivans segment. The addition of the 2017 Chrysler Pacifica and the success of the Dodge Grand Caravan also have to do with the final results. Still, this time FCA may have hurdles to overcome to top the 202,227 vehicles it sold in the U.S. in May 2015, its second-highest monthly sales total that year.
In May 2015, FCA sold 20,007 units of the 200 and 8,667 Darts. But sales of the 200 were down more than 62 percent through this April, and Dart sales were off 37 percent. Its two older minivans are in a good position to counteract the slacking sedans. Through April, Town & Country sales were up 64 percent over 2015 to 40,811, while Grand Caravan sales had more than doubled over the first four months of last year to 46,915. Those gains don't signal a sudden rush into minivans but are due to FCA shutting down its minivan plant in Windsor, Ontario, for 100 days in spring 2015 to retool to produce the Pacifica. During that period, the automaker severely limited minivan fleet sales in order to maintain retail inventories, depressing its reported monthly sales.
