Part Of A Bigger Trend? FCA Outsells Ford In September

It's a bigger trend...that's why Ford get when they abandoned sedans and stopped diversify their portfolio.

Should also mention, Toyota has already outsold Ford YTD. This will be the first time since 2007 on a year-to-year.

Alfa makes the best driving cars in their class.

And Alfa's sales are dismal.

Alfa sales dismal? They are up 29% for the month and 147% for the year. Genesis on the other hand is down 75% for the month and 41% for the year.

I'll be honest, I wouldn't mind getting the Giulia Quadrifoglio. But that's about it. The Stelvio exterior proportions are weird.

Fca remains a foreign company - was ONCE upon a time LONG AGO - #3 among the American car companies then.

IT is now a non-entity - and FORD remains the #2 American car manufacturer - interestingly - Tesla is #3.

I suspect FCA offering good deals to fuel sales in support of new CEO in eyes of market and shareholders.

And to look strong to a buyer.

Ditto Darringer!

I wouldn’t bet on FCA looking for a buyer anymore. With Marchionne gone, the power base has clearly shifted to Auburn Hills. The mindset there seems to be that they are back and going to take their rightful place by challenging Ford and GM. After being subservient to Stuttgart then Torino, they are reveling in their new independence and not anxious to be under the thumb of Seoul or Binjiang.

To challenge Ford and GM they need platforms and they have none that are class leading and several that are so far from being up-to-date that they simply do not have the money to design the cars they need. This is where an outside partner would be vital.

Look at their platform needs:

The Charger/Challenger sell quite nicely but the plan is to essentially restyle the current cars yet again. #FAIL

The Grand Cherokee/Durango need updating and nothing is in the pipeline there. #FAIL

The Cherokee based on Fiat garbage was an OK stopgap, but it is showing its age. Where is the new Journey? Where are crossovers for Chrysler? #FAIL

PHEV/Hybrids? Non-existent. #FAIL

EVs? Nope #FAIL

Foncool, while your assessment may ring true it is important to note that FCA's shareholder base is firmly footed in Italy. Exor controlled by Giovanni Agnelli Fund (Fiat founding family)owns 29.19% of FCA and is its largest shareholder.

John Elkann is in the big chair at Exor and for the most part is hands off the operations of the companies under their umbrella. He likes as little friction as possible (don’t think Altavilla leaving wasn’t a way to head off possible friction with the new team) Gorlier maybe Italian but he is Mopar through and through, he was one of the few Italians that moved from Torino to Detroit.

As long as the profits are flowing and the non-working members of the Angelli clan continue to receive their “dividends” to maintain their lifestyle uninterrupted. Exor will be hands off.

Agree with MDarringer. A fire sale will move inventory of last year's models, however the product pipeline looks bare.