mmarshall

FCA outsold Ford in September for the first time since November 2015. Not surprisingly, Jeep and Ram sales were strong factors.

I'm starting to see some Alfa Stelvio SUVs on the road in my area......something I hadn't really noticed before.

http://www.autonews.com/article/2018...ime-since-2015





FCA US sales soared 15 percent to 199,819 vehicles in September, led by record Ram and Jeep results for the month, topping crosstown rival Ford Motor Co.'s 196,496 light-vehicle sales.

It was the first time FCA US outsold Ford in the U.S. since November 2015, according to the Automotive News Data Center.



The results marked FCA's best September for total and retail sales since 2000. Ram had its best September since the brand launched in 2009. Its sales were up 9.2percent to 56,447.

FCA US sales for the first nine months of the year are up 6.4 percent from 2017.



Brands: Jeep up 14%; Ram up 9.2%; Chrysler down 6.8%; Dodge up 41%; Fiat down 46%; Alfa Romeo up 29%.



Notable nameplates: Ram pickup up 10%; Chrysler Pacifica down 1.9%; Jeep Compass up 46%; Jeep Cherokee up 87%; Jeep Grand Cherokee down 13%; Jeep Wrangler up 1.7%; Dodge Journey up 48%; Alfa Romeo Stelvio up 163%.



Incentives: $4,655 per vehicle, up 0.5% from a year earlier, according to ALG.



Average transaction price: $34,645 up 3.6% from September 2017, according to ALG.



Fleet mix: 25%, up from 16% in September 2017.



Quote: "Our Ram and Jeep brands propelled both our retail and total sales to their highest levels in 18 years," said Reid Bigland, head of FCA US sales.



Did you know? Jeep's sales total of 83,764 vehicles in September marked the ninth straight monthly sales record for the brand, and it was the sixth time out of nine months this year that Jeep sales totaled more than 80,000 vehicles.

FrankReynoldsCPA

I'd assume the all new RAM and Wrangler would have contributed more to that, but it looks like the majority of the credit goes to the Compass, Cherokee, and......the Journey? Who the hell is buying all these Dodge Journeys?

jer

I drive by a lot full of rentals every day. Mostly Dodge Caravans, Journeys, and Chrysler Pacifica's, with some Fords & Hyundai's.

mmarshall

The Journey is relatively inexpensive, roomy, space-efficient, readily available in stock, drives decently, and, though not the most reliable SUV on the market, appears to be at least reasonably well-made, especially compared to past SUVs from FCA. All of that, of course, contributes to sales.

FrankReynoldsCPA

Doing some more research online, it looks like the Journey is the penultimate bad credit special.

Poor credit and a lot of negative equity? Roll up to an FCA dealership and they'll have you on your way in a new Journey. The rebates combined with Chrysler giving financing to anything with a pulse makes it a viable option to bury your debt from your last bad decision.

Benoit

I don't know how you are seeing this. But that such a bad carmaker like Fiat, Chrisler, Jeep and Dodge are soaring is, in my eyes, not a good sign for the rest of the industry.
It is a confirmation that their strategy is paying out, and other will be tempted to follow, resulting in more bad quality products, more highly cancerigene and dangerous cars and worser after sale service.

ArmyofOne

Bad quality? Other than paint, my current ram is flawless, and that paint was fixed (albeit after a bit of a battle). I have had 4 others that have all been flawless too. FCA has worked EXTREMELY hard to change the brand image they earned in the 80's, 90's and early 2000's. Since 2009, alot has changed. Now that I have found a dealer that gives a rip, I wouldn't hesitate to buy another FCA product if I were in the market for a new vehicle.

Every brand has its issues. Toyota's have their problems too. Some brands are more problematic than others, but by and large, if taken care of, a modern FCA vehicle will last as long as its foreign counterparts.

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

Benoit

Maybe you are right. But, until now, I didn't saw the benefits of their applied policy on the field. Fiat is always one of the worst brands in terms of reliability and I saw numeral warnings in the past years about faulty Jeeps and other Dodge/Chrisler products (that also are ranked badly in the consumer survey and reliability charts). There are also testimonies about their bad aftersale service, that is quite famous and even has it's own rap song.

ArmyofOne

Yes, but as consumers, we only throw a fit about the bad stuff. We never want to acknowledge the improvements and good stuff.

Prime example. FCA's Infotainment is one of the most user-friendly systems I have ever used in a vehicle. I have driven many cars and trucks, and the FCA system is far and above the easiest I have encountered. It is also the smoothest.

Every automaker cuts corners. My Lexus has a hard plastic center console that I don't like, and the turn signal stalk and wiper stalk feel cheap. Every business operates with profits in mind.