Stellantis CEO Antonio Filosa recently said the company’s recovery plans were working, and the automaker’s first quarter shipments to dealers back it up. The company sent 1.4 million vehicles to dealers worldwide — at 12 percent jump compared to year-ago numbers.
The biggest jumps came in North America and Europe, which saw increases of 17 percent and 12 percent respectively. In North America, the big drivers of the jump were the Ram 1500 Hemi V8, Jeep Grand Wagoneer, and new Jeep Cherokee.
In fact, those three vehicles accounted for all the growth. If not for lower Jeep Compass shipments, the increase would have been higher, the company noted in a release. Company production was slowed to ramp up production of the aforementioned Cherokee, which is also built at the company’s plant in Toluca, Mexico.
The news follows Stellantis posting a 4 percent increase in sales over all for North America during Q1, which were led by Ram and its 20 percent jump. Dodge posted a 4 percent rise while Jeep was up 3 percent on a year-over-year basis.
Ram’s increase came in large measure from the 1500 with the newly returned Hemi V8, with sales rising 27 percent marking its best performance since Q1 2023. On the Jeep side, sales for the Wrangler rose 17 percent, marking a new high-water mark since the same period in 2022. The biggest mover was the Dodge Durango, which enjoyed a 48 percent leap compared to this time last year.
“We continue to build strong momentum with 4% year-over-year growth, improving market share in an industry that is forecasted to be down approximately 6% based on early reports,” said Jeff Kommor, head of U.S. retail sales.
“There have been plenty of challenges facing the industry this quarter, but these results are proof that we are effectively activating our business reset. They also reflect the confidence we have in our product lineup and dealer network. As more new vehicles reach showrooms, we’re offering customers the right blend of capability, design and powertrain choice to keep our brands competitive and growing.”
[Image: Stellantis]
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