Soaring Wrangler Sales Anchor Slumping Jeep Division

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MoladoGuy

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DETROIT -- Apparently, the Jeep Wrangler is rugged -- and capable of hauling an entire division out of the swamp.

The popular two- and four-door sport utility is coming off its best-ever May while buoying a slumping Jeep division beset by declining sales.

According to Autodata Corp., Jeep sold 12,332 Wranglers in May, up 114 percent compared to the same month last year. For the year, 54,699 Wranglers have been sold, an 85% increase compared to last year.
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Strong Wrangler sales also helped fuel an overall 20 percent May sales increase for Jeep and a 12 percent year-to-date increase compared to last year.

"The Jeep Wrangler is the icon of the brand," said Chrysler Group spokesman Markus Mainka, adding that no incentives have been offered since the vehicle was redesigned and released last September from a retooled Ohio plant.

Based on Autodata figures, the Wrangler accounted for about 29% of Jeep's total May vehicle sales and 27 percent of the division's 2007 sales to date.

Wrangler's strong showing last month also boosted the Chrysler Group division's market share of U.S. light vehicles from 2.4% to 2.7% last month. For 2007, Jeep's market share increased from 2.6% to 3.0%.

Industry analyst Alex Rosten said redesigning the Wrangler was the key to Jeep's recent success.

"Now they can't make enough of them," said Rosten, an analyst for EdmundsObserver.com. "It's always better to expand existing product lines than create a new one."

But the Wrangler's success contrasts with slumping sales for other Jeep products.

According to Autodata, every other Jeep vehicle for which comparative statistics were available posted negative marks, led by the Liberty's 39% sales decline compared with May 2006, and its 28% year-to-date decline compared to last year.

Grand Cherokee sales fell 18% in May and 20% for the year to date, while Jeep Commander sales fell 9.7% in May and 10% so far this year.

According to Jeep officials, May sales for the Compass totaled 3,735, while 4,505 Patriots were sold. In 2007, Jeep has sold 18,812 Compass models and 10,336 Patriots. Both vehicles are in their first year of production.

"We develop each vehicle to appeal to a different kind of customer," said Chrysler spokesman Dan Bodene.

He said introducing the Compass and Patriot was an attempt to enter new markets by leveraging the company's recognizable nameplate. Bodene said Jeep will work harder to deliver the message about its core products and may offer new incentives.

Rosten said that might not be enough. He said the Grand Cherokee is "too old," while new models like the Compass and Patriot are "too redundant." "Jeep has shot itself in the foot by releasing the Patriot and the Compass," he said. "By doing so, they have cannibalized other products, like the Liberty."

On Tuesday, Jeep canceled its scheduled announcement of a new advertising campaign developed by Cutwater, a San Francisco-based advertising agency. Chrysler officials said the postponement until later this week was due to a scheduling conflict and had nothing to do with recently released sales numbers.

Soaring Wrangler Sales
 

Dave

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Wow, that's interesting. I didn't realize they were selling that many JK's.

Sounds like from what they are saying, the Compass and Patriot are redundant. Maby they should have made just the Patriot as they are selling more.

Doesn't sound good for the Grand Cherokee, but I do see a lot of them around here. I see a few commanders but not so many. I think they are going to be discontinued. Too bad. I wish they made it smaller like the XJ.

Dave
 

Marlon_JB2

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Well duh.. of course the new Wrangler is selling well.

1. It's new.
2. The model line was expanded (4 Door).
3. It's new.
4. Everybody buys a new Jeep when it comes out anyway.
 

MoladoGuy

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I see a few commanders but not so many. I think they are going to be discontinued. Too bad. I wish they made it smaller like the XJ.

Dave

Yup the Commander is bye bye.

4. Everybody buys a new Jeep when it comes out anyway.

Yea look at the Compass and Patriot sales for this year alone? Not super huge but way higher than I thought.
 

priell3

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I'm one of those May JK buyers.:)

4 door Wranglers are extremely popular. The Patriot has been doing well too.
Very comparable in size and looks to the XJ, good gas mileage, the price is nice. There is an enthusiastic bunch of Patriot owners over at www.jeeppatriot.com.
 

desertkj

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The slumping GC and KJ sales don't surpise me. The GC has had the same styling for way too long and the KJ has a replacement coming and also happens to get terrible gas mileage in comparison to the rest of its competition.

It's cool that the JK is selling well, although I have no intention of ever buying one lol.
 

Marlon_JB2

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The announcement of the NEW Liberty is what's killing KJ sales right now. When the new KK arrives, sales will rise. XJ owners trading (finally), people waiting for the new KK, KJ leases up, KJ owners looking for a new model, new Jeep people, I could go on and on.

And the cycle will repeat itself!

I've been seeing a few of those MK74s (Patriot) around... they don't look too bad. No cargo room though...

... that and I couldn't BELIEVE how many people though that it was the replacement for the Liberty at the auto show. I almost wanted to cry.
 
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jnaut

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Well duh.. of course the new Wrangler is selling well.

1. It's new.
2. The model line was expanded (4 Door).
3. It's new.
4. Everybody buys a new Jeep when it comes out anyway.

As far as I'm concerned, the '08 Liberty is new. The redesign is so radical that it is, in my opinion, a different vehicle.

I see tons of original style liberties on the road, but the '08 has been out for some time now, and I almost never see them. I think Chrysler gambled on their redesign, and I think it will largely fail. I think they listened to people who weren't buying the liberty and redesigned it with them in mind. But what they'll discover is that those people won't buy the liberty anyway. Ie, they were chasing a dead-end market.

The Xterra got a complete redesign in...'06(?) but it's still very recognizable as an Xterra. The Liberty is by and lage, a completely different car.

Just my opinion.
 
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well n offense to people who already bought one, but the new liberty isnt as good as the older ones. they are making jeeps (minus wranglers) onroad offroaders. gas mileage over ground clearance and ride quality over traction. its a shame but until i work for them it wont change;)
 

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One of the main reasons the Patriot is selling as well as it is is due to it being a loss leader. With all of the incentives they have on them Chrysler is actually loosing a little bit on each vehicle. I guess what ever it takes to get people into the dealerships is a good thing, but loosing money on a vehicle seems a bit drastic. I know they're not the first company to come up with this philosophy but man, I would avoid following suit at all costs.
 

LibertyOrDeath

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As far as I'm concerned, the '08 Liberty is new. The redesign is so radical that it is, in my opinion, a different vehicle.

I see tons of original style liberties on the road, but the '08 has been out for some time now, and I almost never see them. I think Chrysler gambled on their redesign, and I think it will largely fail. I think they listened to people who weren't buying the liberty and redesigned it with them in mind. But what they'll discover is that those people won't buy the liberty anyway. Ie, they were chasing a dead-end market.

The Xterra got a complete redesign in...'06(?) but it's still very recognizable as an Xterra. The Liberty is by and lage, a completely different car.

Just my opinion.
They just took the Liberty and made it a Jeep Cherokee with IFS. Really they might as well the re-name it a Cherokee.
 
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the liberty is supposed to take the place of the cherokee eventually right? so what will take the liberty's place? they'll have to make something that does nasically the same stuff the liberty does and make it about the same size. they could have changed a few body panels and dropped some weight off the '07 and i would consider it more
 
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jeep is going the same way hummer is. besides that the jeep brand goes from srt-rubicon and hummers are all pretty much the same
 

jnaut

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well n offense to people who already bought one, but the new liberty isnt as good as the older ones. they are making jeeps (minus wranglers) onroad offroaders. gas mileage over ground clearance and ride quality over traction. its a shame but until i work for them it wont change;)


I tend to agree. I don't want to upset anyone with a new '08, but it seems to me that they've made it even less of an offroad vehicle, both in looks, and by some performance standards.

For instance, plastic wheelguards are actually a good idea. They bounce back. Yes, the original designed liberty was very tight with cargo space, but you didn't have to climb under the damned vehicle and lie on your back to get the spare out.

See: http://thewidenet.blogspot.com/2007/11/thoughts-on-2008-jeep-liberty.html

I guess I admit that I am in the so-called minority, that I liked the curvy look of the old Jeep Liberty, and found the squared off look to be rather common.

I don't have any numbers, and I'll have to look them up when I get the chance, but I can't imagine the turning radius was helped by adding length to the body. To me, the compact size of the liberty was an overall plus, not a minus.
 

Dave

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^^Ditto......I like mine.......well, except for the ball joints....:D

Dave
 

jnaut

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They just took the Liberty and made it a Jeep Cherokee with IFS. Really they might as well the re-name it a Cherokee.

Shyeah, but according to a certain narrow view, IFS is the only thing in the world worth carrying about. I don't agree with this opinion, but IFS was enough to really get some people's blood up.
 

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