Cars and Drivers

Fiat Sales Continue To Implode

Douglas A. McIntyre

Published: July 4, 2018 6:34 am

Last Updated: January 11, 2020 9:30 pm

The Fiat division of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV, continues to post a sharp drop in sales, begging the question of why the brand is sold in the U.S. at all. In June sales dropped 36% to 1,426. For the first half, sales declined 44% to 8,285.

Across the four cars Fiat markets, sales of each dropped in June. The base 500 dropped 64% to 354, a little better than 10 a day nationwide in June. Sales of the 500L were down 15% to 157. Sales of the 500X dropped 7% to 514. Sales of the relatively new sports coupe Spider fell 21% to 401.

The price range of the Fiat line base models runs from $14,995 to $32,995 for the 500e which has an electric motor and gets 121 MPGe in city driving. It has a range of only 84 miles.

Fiat operates with several disadvantages. The brand usually gets quality ratings which are near the bottom of the industry. Recently, the editors of Motor Trend wrote:

In a six-way comparison of small cars, they liked the cute looks and charm of the 2012 Fiat 500 but the small hatchback placed fifth.

The only car it beat was the Scion tC, built and marketed as a vehicle from a brand which was discontinued.

The Fiat brand is also in a spot of the car industry where sales have been severely damaged. Small, fuel-efficient cars are out of vogue, as the demand for pick-ups, SUVs, and crossovers has surged. Virtually every major car company in the U.S. has cars in the segment. Ford will discontinue sales of its Fiesta in America as its cuts back car models sold in its home market

Fiat Chrysler management has enough trouble on its hands. Sales of its Chrysler brand fell 32% last month to 13,484. Fiat Chrysler will find it sells too many cars in the U.S. just as Ford management did

The Fiat brand in the U.S. is barely on life support. It is stunning Fiat Chrysler has kept it on the market so long.