Jump to content

FCA Us September 2018 UP 15%


Anthony

Recommended Posts

AUBURN HILLS, Mich., Oct. 2, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

  • FCA US reaches highest September of total and retail sales in 18 years
  • Ram and Jeep® brands each post record September total sales
  • Ram brand posts best month of total sales ever
  • Alfa Romeo brand sales increase 29 percent over last year

FCA US LLC today reported U.S. sales of 199,819 vehicles, a 15 percent increase compared with sales in September 2017 of 174,266 vehicles.

 

FCA US total sales and retail sales both posted their best performance in September in 18 years. The September total sales record was in 2000 when sales reached 219,966 vehicles. Retail sales of 149,713 vehicles were the highest level since 2000 when sales hit 189,794. Sales were driven by Ram pickup trucks, Jeep® Cherokee and Jeep Compass. Fleet accounted for 25 percent of total sales.

"Our Ram and Jeep brands propelled both our retail and total sales to their highest levels in 18 years," said Reid Bigland, Head of U.S. Sales.

 

Jeep Brand
Jeep brand sales rose 14 percent to 83,764 vehicles. It was the ninth consecutive time Jeep has set a monthly record for total sales. It was the sixth time this year Jeep brand sales have surpassed 80,000 vehicles. The Cherokee and Compass led the way with sales rising 87 percent and 46 percent, respectively.

 

Ram Brand
Ram brand sales rose 9 percent to 56,447 vehicles compared with the previous year. It was the best month of sales since August 2018 when sales reached 54,808 vehicles. It was the highest September sales for the brand since it was launched in 2009. The light-duty Ram 1500 was the driver as retail sales rose 11 percent to 30,498 and total sales rose 18 percent to 36,658 vehicles. It was the best September of light-duty retail and total sales ever.

 

Alfa Romeo Brand
Alfa Romeo brand sales rose 29 percent to 1,639 vehicles. Stelvio accounted for the majority of those sales with 864 vehicles sold.

 

Dodge Brand
Dodge brand sales jumped 41 percent to 42,101. The brand sales were driven by the Dodge Journey, which rose 48 percent, the Dodge Challenger, which rose 14 percent, and the Caravan, which saw its sales climb to 13,829 vehicles for the month.

 

Chrysler Brand
Chrysler brand sales declined 7 percent to 14,683 vehicles compared with the same month a year ago.

 

FIAT Brand
Sales of Fiat declined 46 percent to 1,185 vehicles.

 

post-6726-0-35662600-1538564997.png

post-6726-0-35662600-1538564997_thumb.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wowsers!! Some big increases for FCA...Jeep is hitting it's stride as the market moves to more "Jeep-esque" vehicles....

Or are they just buying market share? 50% increase on what is essentially a 5 yr old model with a mild facelift screams fire sale.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Cherokee overtook the Escape for the month, although far off for the year.

 

What's a little interesting is that Compass more than doubles the sales of Renegade. The Bronco Mini (Maverick) is targeting that Renegade style, maybe Ford should have been targeting Compass.

 

The Compass is EVERYWHERE in Michigan. It's BY FAR the best looking utility in its class, but it's also a product engineered for cost and isn't well liked by critics. Not sure I want Ford to take that route even if it means more sales. Either way I think Ford is having a really hard time figuring out this specific area of the market.

Edited by Assimilator
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Never underestimate lemmings trying to keep up with The Joneses

 

I don't understand the disdain for Jeep. Wrangler is in a class by itself when it comes to mass production off road performance as well as the ability to customize it. Grand Cherokee was/is arguably best in class in that category as well for utilities.

 

The Cherokee and other smaller utes are mostly selling on price and styling, not because buyers think they can off road them.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Jeep was a niche brand for a long time, this is all a fairly recent boom thanks to an accumulation of well liked modern products that don't suck. It's a strong brand however and its foundation serves itself extremely well when it comes to developing and marketing the right product in an SUV world. Jeep is the original SUV, in-fact "Jeep" is interchangeable with SUV in most part of the world. Ford has some of that foundation as well. Obviously Ford doesn't have decades of brand consistency on its side since Bronco has been gone for decades, but it has never been forgotten.

 

Jeep does have two American icons that translate well globally, the Wrangler and Grand Cherokee. Ford has Mustang, Chevy has Corvette. Maybe Ford can add Bronco to that list this time, or even Explorer. Explorer is going to be Ford's Jeep Grand Cherokee in some respects, a vehicle that stands apart from the norms in the market and becomes harder to cross shop with others. You know you either want a Grand Cherokee, Explorer or one of the other random utilities you only know about because they appear on a list. That's what encourages me about Ford right now, they know they don't want to be a commodity car maker, they have to make icons that only they can make and sell.

Edited by Assimilator
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Or are they just buying market share? 50% increase on what is essentially a 5 yr old model with a mild facelift screams fire sale.

 

 

I wouldn't necessarily call it a mild facelift. That new front end (and to a lesser extent, the backend) basically makes it seem like a totally new vehicle. Sure, it is a bit derivative of the Compass and Grand Cherokee styling, but the Cherokee now has the same look as the other Jeeps that actually sell because they are handsome vehicles..... instead of some LSD-induced styling that really did seem to sell only because of the badge on its hood.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Or are they just buying market share? 50% increase on what is essentially a 5 yr old model with a mild facelift screams fire sale.

 

No fire sale sir. Current and past month sales incentives for Jeep Cherokee have been comparable to those for Ford Escape, Chevy Equinox, and GMC Acadia.

 

As Anthony said, 2019 Cherokee is much more than "mild facelift". Engines, transmissions, chassis, and interior materials have all been refined or upgraded substantially. Plus the revised exterior styling is a lot less polarizing. A lot of potential customers just couldn't get used to the 2014-2018 Cherokee styling with the weird arrangement of headlamps and DRL.

 

Less quirky Cherokee = more sales

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Or are they just buying market share? 50% increase on what is essentially a 5 yr old model with a mild facelift screams fire sale.

Its not a mild facelift. I had one for a week and it was a very competent and well appointed vehicle. If I were buying a vehicle in that segment I would purchase it over an Escape.

 

Think of it like the 2010 Fusion. It may be a heavy refresh, but it comes off as a brand new vehicle for consumers.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Its not a mild facelift. I had one for a week and it was a very competent and well appointed vehicle. If I were buying a vehicle in that segment I would purchase it over an Escape.

 

Think of it like the 2010 Fusion. It may be a heavy refresh, but it comes off as a brand new vehicle for consumers.

 

Unlike the '17 Fusion haha.

 

I still don't think it's enough of a change to justify a 50% increase in sales all by itself.

 

Agreed.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 words.....

 

sub prime financing

 

23 words from Experian Automotive. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/experian-finds-consumers-are-doing-a-better-job-of-making-on-time-car-payments-300704598.html

 

 

"Additionally, compared with last year, lenders appear to be more conservative as market share for subprime and deep-subprime automotive loans continues to fall."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

23 words from Experian Automotive. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/experian-finds-consumers-are-doing-a-better-job-of-making-on-time-car-payments-300704598.html

 

"Additionally, compared with last year, lenders appear to be more conservative as market share for subprime and deep-subprime automotive loans continues to fall."

 

 

The next few sentences after that quote paint a slightly different picture:

 

Deep subprime hit an all-time low of 3.54 percent, compared with 3.98 percent in Q2 2017. Overall, subprime and deep subprime fell to less than 19 percent of the loan market. As a result, average credit scores for new and used vehicle financing continue to improve, reaching 715 and 655, respectively.

 

Subprime and deep Subprime lending numbers are falling because there are more prime lending being done, the risk is still there.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...