Chrysler inventory swelled in January

As of February 1, Chrysler’s U.S. inventory had swollen from 115 days’ supply (as of January 1) to 151 days’ supply, according to Automotive News. Over a third of a million vehicles are parked in Chrysler dealers’ lots across the United States, even as dealers ordered more units to keep the company’s cash flow moving. Hit hardest are two discontinued models, with PT Cruiser at 277 days and Crossfire at 276; in contrast, the Durango is at a 158 days, Aspen at a mere 130.

Of the three divisions, Jeep is in best shape with just 137 days of inventory; its blights are the closely related, relatively efficient Compass and Patriot, at 237 and 221 days each, while the fuel-gulping vehicles are doing far better – with Commander at 115, Liberty at 113, and Wrangler back down to 112.

At Dodge, cars are slightly better than trucks, with the Challenger and Viper at a mere 57 and 56 days’ supply – not much more than enough to keep the pipeline full. The main clogs at Dodge are the Sprinter van, with 300 days’ supply (5,600 vans); the Caliber, at 243; the Caravan, at 189; the Avenger, at 178; and the Journey, at 176 days. The Magnum is down to just 100 units.

Chrysler is worst off, with 168 days’ supply of vehicles; the burdens are the aforementioned PT, the 300 (176), and the Town & Country, with 158 days’ supply.

To put these numbers into perspective, Chrysler could shut down its minivan plant and coast until August, albeit perhaps not with the selection customers wanted; the PT Cruiser will be around through the end of the year even if Toluca shuts down tomorrow, and the Journey would last through to Fall.

Numerically, the largest numbers of stock are with the Town & Country and Caravan, with over 49,000 minivans sitting in lots. Following the minivans are the Caliber-Patriot-Compass, with 48,000 of the little crossovers awaiting buyers – around half of those are Calibers. The LX cars fare somewhat better, with 15,200 300s but just 20,600 Chargers for a total of around 42,000 cars (including the Challengers). Compared with those numbers, the Ram’s 73,700 trucks on dealer lots seems easier to take, given that the Ram is far and away Chrysler’s best seller. That’s just 149 days’ supply, and quite a few might be 2008s eclipsed by the new 2009s.

The largest inventories of the majors are held by GM (161 days, up from 102) and Chrysler (151 days, up from 115), followed by Mitsubishi and Volkswagen. The smallest are held by Hyundai-Kia, with a mere 70 days’ supply, BMW, and Nissan. Ford has just 120 days’ supply – up from 85 days on January 1. Toyota weighed in with a mere 91 days’ supply.