Chrysler Group’s U.S. sales rose only 10 percent in October, the smallest gain since May 2011. As suspected yesterday, Super-Sandy has been fingered as the culprit.
Chrysler told Automotive News [sub] that “October sales were affected by the major hurricane and storm that pummeled the eastern U.S. seaboard early this week.” Dodge is up 20 percent, Ram 17 percent. The Chrysler brand gained only 5 percent.
Jeep sales are down 5-percent, which oddly was blamed on the hurricane, along with the discontinuation of the Jeep Liberty.
Ford sales are unchanged from October 2011, GM is up 5 percent. Toyota sales are up 15.8 percent. Jefferies analyst Peter Nesvold said that Sandy could have cost 100,000 unit sales in October. If that forecast would come true, there would be zero gains in October.
We shall follow the October sales numbers throughout the day.
|
Chrysler Group LLC U.S. Sales Summary Thru October 2012 |
||||||
|
Month Sales |
Vol % |
Sales CYTD |
Vol % |
|||
|
Model |
Curr Yr |
Pr Yr |
Change |
Curr Yr |
Pr Yr |
Change |
|
500 |
3,720 |
1,965 |
89% |
36,462 |
15,826 |
130% |
|
FIAT BRAND |
3,720 |
1,965 |
89% |
36,462 |
15,826 |
130% |
|
200 |
8,758 |
11,205 |
-22% |
109,025 |
69,755 |
56% |
|
Sebring |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2,380 |
-100% |
|
|
300 |
5,183 |
3,701 |
40% |
58,813 |
27,077 |
117% |
|
PT Cruiser |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1,328 |
-100% |
|
|
Town & Country |
8,281 |
6,338 |
31% |
95,850 |
78,255 |
22% |
|
CHRYSLER BRAND |
22,222 |
21,244 |
5% |
263,688 |
178,795 |
47% |
|
Compass |
2,486 |
5,179 |
-52% |
34,389 |
39,192 |
-12% |
|
Patriot |
4,209 |
3,581 |
18% |
53,270 |
46,234 |
15% |
|
Wrangler |
11,310 |
9,892 |
14% |
119,787 |
101,820 |
18% |
|
Liberty |
4,099 |
5,997 |
-32% |
67,773 |
55,322 |
23% |
|
Grand Cherokee |
11,919 |
11,084 |
8% |
123,994 |
96,853 |
28% |
|
Commander |
0 |
0 |
0 |
105 |
-100% |
|
|
JEEP BRAND |
34,023 |
35,733 |
-5% |
399,213 |
339,526 |
18% |
|
Caliber |
92 |
1,840 |
-95% |
10,113 |
32,430 |
-69% |
|
Dart |
5,455 |
0 |
New |
14,709 |
0 |
New |
|
Avenger |
7,637 |
7,136 |
7% |
82,376 |
52,164 |
58% |
|
Charger |
4,924 |
3,626 |
36% |
68,409 |
57,779 |
18% |
|
Challenger |
2,686 |
3,097 |
-13% |
36,309 |
33,254 |
9% |
|
Viper |
0 |
12 |
-100% |
20 |
156 |
-87% |
|
Journey |
5,955 |
5,028 |
18% |
65,306 |
46,734 |
40% |
|
Caravan |
10,603 |
7,100 |
49% |
118,730 |
92,930 |
28% |
|
Nitro |
29 |
2,031 |
-99% |
3,269 |
20,784 |
-84% |
|
Durango |
3,230 |
3,864 |
-16% |
33,282 |
42,944 |
-22% |
|
DODGE BRAND |
40,611 |
33,734 |
20% |
432,523 |
379,175 |
14% |
|
Dakota |
2 |
642 |
-100% |
490 |
11,299 |
-96% |
|
Ram P/U |
25,222 |
21,037 |
20% |
238,815 |
199,010 |
20% |
|
Cargo Van |
385 |
157 |
New |
5,664 |
292 |
New |
|
RAM BRAND |
25,609 |
21,836 |
17% |
244,969 |
210,601 |
16% |
|
TOTAL CHRYSLER GROUP LLC |
126,185 |
114,512 |
10% |
1,376,855 |
1,123,923 |
23% |
|
TOTAL CAR |
38,455 |
32,582 |
18% |
416,236 |
290,824 |
43% |
|
TOTAL TRUCK |
87,730 |
81,930 |
7% |
960,619 |
833,102 |
15% |
Its easy to blame the Weather and yes even in the very last days of the Month of October, ahh it’s hard to make such a case, could it be the result of Consumer Reports recently released comments about Chrysler Vehicles?
You do realize the Consumer Report data was released on Oct 29th right?
I just spent 4 days driving across Colorado and New Mexico in a 2012 Grand Cherokee limited. Pretty comfortable ride for the family, 85 mph on the highway and even my five-year-old took a 3 hour nap. I even got 22 mpg over a 400 mile stretch with the transmission kicking down two gears for extended periods to keep 85 mph against strong headwinds and fairly steep grades. My opinions changed once we got to the buckled streets of Santa Fe and the rattles from the sunroof were completely distracting (at 15K miles). That and a completely washed out radio/nav screen which was unreadable during the hours of 7 am-5 pm banished the thoughts of Chrysler ownership from my mind, but I’ll admit, I was thinking about it.
To get an idea how bad things were at Chrysler last month, it was Chrysler’s Best October sales since 2007!
It may be mentioned earlier, but in a few months there will be some storm damaged cars on the market which might not be labeled as such. Buyer beware!
Things were so bad at Chrysler last month they actually gained ground from Toyota, Honda and Nissan.
Toyota is up 16% while Chrysler is up 10%. Toyota sells more vehicles than Chrysler, so that 16% represents bigger absolute growth too. They outperformed Honda and especially Nissan, but throw in Toyota and the result is reversed.