Well-known car brands that have been in Australia for decades could be pulling out with sales for some models in the single digits and halving in just a year.
The American, Italian and French marques now also have the same owner, Stellantis, stirring speculation about cost cutting and an end to unprofitable exports to small markets like Australia.
Just 16 Chryslers were sold in February – half the 33 tally of a year earlier.
They were all the 300C and V8 300 SRT sedan, an American-designed muscle machine occasionally seen as a police highway patrol car.
Chrysler was once a bestseller in Australia, as it locally manufactured the large Valiant, including a Charger coupe, from 1964 to 1981 to take on Ford and Holden, during an era when Australian-made cars made up entire police fleets.
Well-known car brands that have been in Australia for decades could be pulling out with sales for some models in the single digits and halving in just a year. Just 16 Chryslers were sold in February – half the 33 tally of a year earlier. They were all the 300C (pictured) and V8 300 SRT sedan
Motoring expert Toby Hagon, the editor of EV Central, said the new Dutch-headquartered Stellantis conglomerate would be reviewing the future of its slow-selling brands in Australia, with Chrysler in particular danger.
‘Chrysler’s another one that I think we’re expecting to pretty much be killed off,’ he told Daily Mail Australia.
‘Chrysler is a brand, they don’t really sell much.
‘Chrysler’s probably looking a bit dangerous.’
Alfa Romeo, an Italian brand synonymous with beautiful sports cars like the Spider, last month managed just 31 sales, less than half the volume of February 2020.
The Giulietta hatchback notched up just eight monthly sales, half the 16 sold a year earlier.
Buyers shunned the decade-old design and production finished in late 2020.
The sales decline for the Stelvio SUV was even more dramatic, falling to just five from 28.
Mr Hagon said Alfa Romeo was another brand that didn’t have a long-term future in Australia.
Chrysler 300C sedans are a regular sight in the New South Wales highway patrol fleet
‘Alfa Romeo just doesn’t have the presence that they’d like, they don’t have the depth within their brands,’ he said.
‘That’s a brand that is under a fair bit of pressure at the moment.
‘Alfa Romeo needs to do more than what they’re doing now if they want to survive long-term as a brand. They’ve effectively got two models and really, a car company needs more than that.’
French car maker Citroen managed a paltry six monthly sales, a quarter of the 24 sold a year earlier.
The small C3 hatchback made up five of those sales with the other Citroen sold a C5 Aircross, an SUV.
The sales figures were already dismal before the Covid shutdowns of a year ago caused global supply shortages and hampered production.
Alfa Romeo, an Italian brand synonymous with beautiful sports cars like the Spider, last month managed just 31 sales, less than half the volume of February 2020. The sales decline for the Stelvio SUV (pictured) was even more dramatic, falling to just five from 28
Chrysler, Alfa-Romeo are also all part of the Stellantis, formed in January.
This new car conglomerate merged the already-merged Italian-American Fiat Chrysler Automotives, which owned Alfa Romeo and Jeep, and the French Groupe PSA, which owned Peugeot, Citreon and General Motors’s former European brands Opel and Vauxhall.
Mr Hagon said Stellantis would be ‘consolidating the complexity in their current product lineup’ and review export markets like Australia in coming years.
French car maker Citroen managed a paltry six monthly sales, a quarter of the 24 sold a year earlier. The small C3 hatchback made up five of those sales with the other Citroen sold a C5 Aircross, an SUV
‘Everything will be evaluated,’ he said.
‘They’ll certainly evaluate all their brands. Which of these brands make sense to hold on to and which we invest heavily in and which ones may not.’
Another car giant, General Motors, has killed off the Holden brand, even though it had been on Australian roads since 1948.
The last brand new Commodore was sold in December, three years after the last Australian-made one rolled off the production line in Adelaide.
