Dodge and Alfa Romeo both stumbled badly in the 2025 U.S. sales race, but the scale of their declines tells two different stories about how legacy performance brands are coping with a market in transition. Dodge’s volume slide was steep, yet Alfa Romeo’s collapse was even more dramatic, underscoring how fragile low-volume premium marques can be when product plans and consumer tastes fall out of sync. I see their trajectories as a stress test of Stellantis’s broader strategy in the United States, where the company is trying to juggle electrification, performance heritage, and a cooling new-car market all at once.
The market backdrop: a cooling U.S. sales environment
Any assessment of Dodge and Alfa Romeo in 2025 has to start with the broader U.S. market, which lost some of its post-pandemic momentum as affordability pressures mounted. Industry data on Light Vehicle Sales show that by the end of the year, growth had flattened and buyers were becoming more selective, especially in higher-priced segments. I view that shift as particularly punishing for brands that lean on discretionary purchases like performance cars and premium crossovers, where shoppers can easily delay or trade down when interest rates and insurance costs bite.
Within that context, Stellantis was not alone in feeling the strain, but its portfolio mix in the United States left it more exposed than some rivals. The company’s U.S. arm, often grouped under Latest USA Car Sales data for FCA brands, depends heavily on trucks, SUVs, and enthusiast nameplates rather than high-volume compact crossovers or budget EVs. That structure can be lucrative in boom times, but in a plateauing market it magnifies the impact when even one or two key nameplates misfire.
Stellantis’s mixed 2025: a group with pockets of strength
At the corporate level, Stellantis’s U.S. performance in 2025 was a study in contrasts, with some brands stabilizing while others slid. Reporting on the group’s results notes that Stellantis FCA posted fourth quarter U.S. sales of 332,321 vehicles, a modest gain that masked deeper full-year weakness. I read that as evidence that late-year incentives and improved inventory helped, but not enough to offset structural issues like aging product in some showrooms and uncertainty around the company’s electrification roadmap.
Those headline numbers also hide the divergence between higher-volume pillars and niche marques. Coverage of the company’s annual performance notes that Stellantis yearly sales in the United States were negative overall despite that late rebound, a sign that the group is still working through a multi-year slump. In that environment, brands like Dodge and Alfa Romeo, which lack the sheer volume of Jeep or Ram, feel every misstep more acutely because they have less cushion from fleet sales or bread-and-butter models.
Dodge’s 2025 slide: a brand in transition
Dodge’s decline in 2025 was sharp enough to stand out even in a tough year for Stellantis. According to corporate figures, According to Stellantis, Dodge was down 28 percent year-over-year, moving just 101,927 units through MY2025. When I look at that number, I see more than a cyclical dip; it reflects a brand caught between the end of its traditional V8 muscle era and the uncertain reception of its new electrified performance strategy.
Analysts tracking quarterly performance framed The Dodge brand as one of the notable losers of 2025, with that 28 percent slide to 101,927 units underscoring how dependent it had been on outgoing models like the Challenger and Charger. I interpret the drop as a sign that loyal buyers did not immediately follow Dodge into its new era of multi-energy performance, and that the brand underestimated how long it would take to rebuild volume once its long-running muscle cars left the stage.
From Challenger highs to Charger Daytona lows
The contrast between Dodge’s recent past and its 2025 reality is starkest when I compare the old Challenger to the new Charger Daytona. Reporting on model-level performance notes that Dodge Sold More than three times as many Challengers in 2024 as it did Charger Daytonas in 2025, a gap that helps explain the brand’s overall volume collapse. To me, that ratio shows how difficult it is to replace an icon that built its following over more than a decade with a new, more complex proposition that blends electric and combustion power.
The Charger Daytona was meant to signal Dodge’s future, but the early sales figures suggest that many traditional buyers are still on the fence. The brand’s own framing of a multi-energy performance strategy highlights the ambition to keep muscle-car character alive with a mix of powertrains, yet the market response so far has been cautious. I see that hesitation as a reminder that enthusiasts may embrace innovation, but only when it feels like an evolution of what they love rather than a clean break from the sound, feel, and price points they are used to.
Alfa Romeo’s deeper plunge: a premium brand in crisis
If Dodge had a bad year, Alfa Romeo’s was worse, both in percentage terms and in the narrative it tells about the brand’s place in the United States. Data on Alfa Romeo (FCA) Sales in the USA by Model in 2025 show total volume of 5,652 units, with a % Change of -36% compared with the prior year. When I look at that 36 percent drop on such a small base, it reads less like a rough patch and more like a brand at risk of losing critical mass in a key global market.
Industry roundups of winners and losers singled out Loser Alfa Romeo as an example of how badly things can go when a premium marque lacks fresh product and a clear identity. The coverage described the situation as even worse than at Dodge’s Italian stablemate, with Alfa Romeo sales dropping sharply as its limited lineup struggled to attract new buyers. I see that as a warning sign that, without a decisive reset, Alfa Romeo risks becoming an afterthought in the United States, remembered more for what it once promised than for what it currently delivers.
Warning signs that came earlier in 2025
The scale of the 2025 declines did not come out of nowhere; there were clear signals earlier in the year that both Dodge and Alfa Romeo were in trouble. Over the summer, analysis of first-half results pointed out that Stellantis Just Lost nearly half its Dodge sales in six months, with Dodge down nearly 50 percent as Stellantis U.S. sales dropped 11 percent in H1 2025. I read that midyear snapshot as an early alarm bell that the brand’s transition away from its legacy muscle lineup was not being matched by equivalent demand for its new offerings.
Alfa Romeo’s distress was also visible well before the full-year numbers were tallied. A detailed video breakdown argued that Alfa Romeo Collapsed in the United States as sales had fallen 34% compared to the same period the previous year, with the host warning that the brand “needs help and fast” in the United States. When I connect that 34% midyear drop with the eventual -36% full-year figure, it suggests that Alfa Romeo never found a second-half recovery, which is especially troubling in a market where premium buyers often respond quickly to new incentives or special editions if the underlying product still resonates.
How Dodge and Alfa Romeo compare with other brands
To understand how severe these declines are, I find it useful to compare Dodge and Alfa Romeo with brands that managed to grow or at least hold steady in 2025. One standout example was Kia, which sold a total of 852,155 units in 2025 as its lineup of crossovers and EVs continued to gain traction. That figure underscores how far Dodge and Alfa Romeo have fallen from the mainstream conversation; while Kia was adding hundreds of thousands of sales with a broad, value-focused portfolio, Dodge was fighting to keep just over 100,000 units and Alfa Romeo was stuck below 6,000.
Within Stellantis itself, the contrast is also stark. Coverage of the group’s performance notes that Fiat and Alfa Romeo floundered as sales continued to slip for the low-volume Fiat and Alfa Romeo brands throughout 2025, down 14 percent in some measures even before the full Alfa-specific collapse is factored in. I interpret that pattern as evidence that Stellantis’s smallest marques are bearing the brunt of strategic uncertainty, while larger brands like Jeep and Ram can better weather product gaps because they start from a much higher base and have more diversified lineups.
Product gaps, pricing, and the premium squeeze
When I look at why Alfa Romeo’s fall was even steeper than Dodge’s, product cadence and positioning stand out as key factors. The Sales USA Model breakdown for Alfa Romeo shows a thin lineup trying to compete against entrenched German and Japanese rivals that refresh their vehicles more frequently and offer a wider range of trims. In a premium market where buyers expect cutting-edge tech, strong resale values, and a dense dealer network, Alfa Romeo’s smaller footprint and slower update cycle make it harder to justify its pricing, especially when economic conditions tighten.
Dodge, by contrast, still benefits from strong name recognition and a clearer identity built around accessible performance, but it is paying the price for letting its core muscle cars age before replacing them with a more expensive, more complex proposition. The midyear warning that Dodge was down nearly 50 percent in H1 2025 suggests that many buyers either rushed to buy the last of the old V8s earlier or decided to sit out the transition entirely. I see both brands as victims of a premium squeeze: Alfa Romeo at the luxury end, where it struggles to justify its prices, and Dodge at the enthusiast end, where rising MSRPs and new technology risk alienating the very customers who made its recent success possible.
What the 2025 slump means for Stellantis’s U.S. future
For Stellantis, the twin declines of Dodge and Alfa Romeo raise hard questions about how to balance heritage with the need to modernize. The group’s own reporting on Dodge’s multi-energy performance strategy shows that leadership is committed to keeping performance at the center of the brand, but the 101,927 units figure suggests that execution will need to be sharper, with clearer messaging and perhaps more attainable entry points. I believe Dodge still has enough equity in its nameplates to recover if it can prove that electrified muscle can be as emotionally compelling as the outgoing V8s.
Alfa Romeo’s path is less certain, given its much smaller volume and the severity of its -36% drop to 5,652 units. The broader context of Fiat, Alfa Romeo floundering within Stellantis suggests that the company must decide whether to double down on a U.S. revival with new models and marketing, or quietly accept that these Italian brands will remain niche players. From my perspective, the 2025 numbers are a clear inflection point: either Stellantis invests to make Alfa Romeo relevant in the United States again, or it risks watching the brand fade into irrelevance in one of the world’s most important premium markets.
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