Sliding Dart sales a concern for Belvidere
BELVIDERE - Chrysler Group LLC laid off 325 workers over three shifts this week because of slumping sales of the Dodge Dart.
The company verified this afternoon that it was "adjusting its production schedule" after releasing its monthly sales figures in the morning. The sales release showed February sales overall for the company increased 11 percent from February 2013, but U.S. sales of its Dart compact sedan slid 37 percent.
The temporary layoff has been months in the making. More details from the company are expected this week. Auto analysts said from the start that the Dodge Dart might struggle to find buyers because it is competing against such well-known cars as the Toyota Corolla, Honda Civic and Ford Focus.
Now the Dart is facing a new dilemma: It's having to compete against other Chrysler products.
Dealers in the U.S. sold just 4,888 Darts in February, down from the 7,720 sold in February 2013. Last month's Dart sales were the lowest in the U.S. for any month since November 2012, when the Dart was in just its seventh month of production.
The Dart is assembled in Belvidere along with the Jeep Compass and Jeep Patriot. Sales of those models increased 15 percent and 2 percent from 2014.
"What's going on now with the Dart is that when buyers go into a Dodge showroom they are getting such great incentives on the Dodge Avenger that buyers are choosing the larger car," said Dave Sullivan, an auto analyst for AutoPacific of Troy, Mich.
Chrysler Group LLC has ended production of the Avenger, a midsize sedan and, according to the Dodge site, is offering a $3,500 cash incentive on the model to help reduce inventory. That brings a midlevel model of the 2014 Avenger to under $20,000. A midlevel Dart costs $18,495. The only incentives for the Dart, on the Dodge site, was if you want to lease the vehicle.
Bob Williams, general sales manager of Anderson Dodge, Chrysler, Jeep, Ram in Rockford, confirmed incentives are pulling buyers to other Chrysler products.
"It's not just the Avenger. Chrysler has some big incentives on the Chrysler 200, too," Williams said.
Chrysler this year will be rolling out a next generation Chrysler 200, a compact executive car, based on the same platform the company uses for the Dart and the new Jeep Cherokee. To move its existing Chrysler 200s the company is offering $3,000 cash back, which brings a midlevel Chrysler 200 down to about $19,900.
"The Dart is a more advanced car than either the Avenger or the 200, but buyers react to incentives," Williams said.
The Dart launched to great fanfare in 2012. It was the first model designed and built from scratch by both Detroit's Chrysler and Italy's Fiat designers and engineers. It marked Chrysler's return to the ultracompetitive compact sedan market, which in the U.S. is eclipsed only by the truck market.
Quality has never been the problem. On Monday, Chrysler announced that The Car Book had named the Dart a "Best Bet" in its compact car category for the second straight year. Strategic Vision placed the Dart at the top of its Total Quality Index for compact cars. It is a Top Safety Pick by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and was given the top 5-star rating by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Finding buyers has been tough, though. The Dart has topped 8,000 sales in a month just twice, in March and April of 2012. In comparison, the Dodge Caliber, the hatchback that the Dart replaced on the Belvidere assembly line, topped 10,000 in monthly sales five times in its first two years before the Great Recession hit.
The more the Dart struggles, the more concern it raises in the Rock River Valley. Chrysler added a third shift to the Belvidere plant in 2013 and boosted employment to a record 4,500 to handle the anticipated demand for the Dart.
"It's going to be several months before the Avenger is sold out, then we'll get a better sense where the interest is in the Dart," AutoPacific's Sullivan said.
Alex Gary: 815-987-1339; agary@rrstar.com; @alexpgary