Jeep Sales Hit a Rut

Jeep sales worldwide have been strong, but reports are that the smooth road to easy sales has suddenly become the nail-biting Rubicon Trail. In September alone, the decline reached as high as 2.7 % overall. While the Cherokee fell around 12 %, the Renegade fell 13% and the Compass 16%. The Renegade and Compass are probably more popular overseas where smaller vehicles are more commonly driven and are heavily affected by those markets. But even the mighty Wrangler dropped as high as 18% (the factory already has a hard time keeping up with demand on Wranglers and the lower inventories at some dealerships caused some issues). Among this downhill slope, two Jeeps have actually increased in sales. Those two being the Grand Cherokee (18%) and the Patriot (a whopping 33%!). The Patriot will not be in production much longer, maybe dealerships are making great deals to get them off the lots once and for all? Jeep was aggressive with incentives in September. Some reports say a Customer could get as much as $ 7,000 in discounts and incentives to drive a Jeep Cherokee off the lot. The FCA will soon be making Cherokees at a plant in Belvedere, Illinois. They’re hoping the demand will continue for the Jeep, if not, it could be devastating to projections on sales. Of course, one month doesn’t mean disaster. The FCA is a worldwide company, things are always in flux, but in the end, the idea is to keep going forward to bigger sales. It sounds like consumers might be able to bring on the heat at the dealerships this winter and get some really good deals on new Jeeps.