Fiat Chrysler sales rise 7 percent despite major snowstorm

A survey of industry analysts conducted late last month by Bloomberg showed a widespread belief that all eight major automakers in the USA market would post sales declines in January.

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and Nissan Motor Co 7201.T reported higher USA sales for January, indicating a stronger-than-expected start of the year for the auto industry than many observers expected.

FCA said it sold 155,037 vehicles in January, its 70th consecutive month of year-over-year sales gains and the company’s best January sales in nine years.

The projections for individual automakers, which aren’t adjusted to account for the number of sales days, were declines of 3.2 percent for Ford Motor Co., 0.9 percent for General Motors Co. and 4.8 percent for Toyota Motor Corp.

Fiat Chrysler shares traded in Milan rose from the minutes after its US sales were announced. Sales of the 200 plunged 63 percent to 5,200 units, a marked turn-around from solid growth in 2015 – at times in the triple-digits.

US sales hit a record 17.39 million in 2015, according to WardsAuto, which provides data the USA government uses for economic analysis.

FCA Canada reported a total of 18,156 vehicles sold in January, up 1 percent compared with the same month a year earlier, and fueled by stronger demand for the company’s Jeep brand vehicles.

Jeep continued to be the sales-volume bedrock for FCA US, with sales up 15 percent to a record-level 59,032 units. The Jeep Grand Cherokee and the Ram Pickup all posted modest increases, but sales got the biggest boost from some unlikely vehicles – including an 83 per cent increase for the heavily discounted Dodge Caravan minivan.

Dart sales fell 42 percent in the month.

To be sure, although Jeep is bolstering Fiat Chrysler, the company is also getting a hand from aggressive sales techniques. Fiat Chrysler is introducing a new minivan this spring, so buyers looking for discounts may be snapping up the older minivans.

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) said Tuesday than an internal review staged in the wake of the Volkswagen scandal showed that its diesel engines respected emissions regulations.