Starting today, the Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram Truck, FIAT, and Alfa Romeo brands of Auburn Hills’ Fiat Chrysler Automobiles will offer 24/7 support, and well-qualified buyers can get 0 percent financing for 84 months and no payments for 90 days on select FCA 2019 and 2020 models. The initiative is called “Drive Forward.”
“We are all one community and we can help during these unprecedented times,” says Olivier Francois, chief marketing officer at FCA. “We want to both offer consumers support and assist them financially while we all work hand in hand toward better days. And we’ll continue to explore additional opportunities as a company to help as we all navigate our way through this difficult time together.”
In addition, beginning today FCA is enhancing vehicle purchasing capability with the launch of a new online retail experience that allows customers to complete the entire vehicle purchase process online. Consumers can conduct a vehicle trade-in, apply for credit, receive price and payment estimates, and review service protection plan options.
The offerings are available on Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram Truck, FIAT, and Alfa Romeo brand websites. Once on a site, consumers can begin the purchase process and connect with a local dealer to finalize the sale. A call center agent is available to help consumers through the experience.
Once a vehicle is purchased, consumers can work with participating dealers to have their vehicles delivered directly to their homes.
For more incentive and pricing information, visit Chrysler.com, Jeep.com, Dodge.com, RamTrucks.com, FiatUSA.com, and AlfaRomeoUSA.com.
FCA says it is planning a multi-media campaign for “Drive Forward.” It will span broadcast and each of the brands’ social and digital media channels. A 30-second and 15-second combined brand broadcast spot, in addition to 15-second individual social media spots, will run across the Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, and Ram Truck brand social media channels, featuring OneRepublic’s all-new track, “Better Days,” just released to address the current climate.
“The band’s hope is that our new song, ‘Better Days,’ will bring comfort as we all stay home to combat the COVID-19 outbreak,” says Ryan Tedder of OneRepublic.
In related news, FCA reported a 10 percent decline in its first-quarter sales as the strong momentum in January and February was more than offset by the negative economic impact of COVID-19 in March.
“Our dealers have once again stepped up as pillars of the community as they have continued to provide critical support to our customers on the road,” says Jeff Kommor, head of U.S. sales for FCA. “Many have taken extraordinary steps, ranging from enhanced sanitizing protocols for their showrooms to the offer of home delivery and other concierge services to keep consumers safe. I applaud all of them for their efforts.”
For the quarter, U.S. sales were 446,768 vehicles compared with 498,425 for the same period a year earlier. Retail sales were 306,898 vehicles for the quarter. Fleet accounted for 31 percent of total sales.
Ram pickup trucks were a bright spot as sales rose 7 percent to 128,805 vehicles. Overall, the Ram brand rose 3 percent to 140,486 vehicles. Chrysler Pacifica sales rose 5 percent to 24,525 and Jeep Gladiator notched sales of 15,259 vehicles. It was the third consecutive quarter Gladiator has surpassed the 15,000 mark.
