The Jeep Wrangler Unlimited, Compass, and Patriot are helping Chrysler defend its market share in a declining sales environment. Between these new models and incentives on Dodge and Chrysler vehicles, Chrysler has managed to stay 0.1% ahead of the market's year-on-year drop in sales. The Wrangler Unlimited is proving a noteworthy boon, helping lift Wrangler sales by 71% year-over-year. Steve Landry, Chrysler's EVP of North American sales said, "The four-door has really created a halo effect for the Jeep brand, bringing people into the Jeep showrooms and it has improved our two-door sales."
Although Chrysler-brand vehicles lead the way among the Big Three in incentives, Jeep has placed little reliance on them. The numbers mean that Chrysler's market share has actually improved a tiny bit, from 12.85% to 12.86% in the US. It's a minuscule improvement to be sure, but for a company that has been through the wringer over the past few months (years, some would say), it's still a great statement.
[Source: Freep]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Nick @ Sep 14th 2007 3:41PM
Diesel Jeep Please!
Nick @ Sep 14th 2007 3:46PM
Wrangler, that is.
brandon @ Sep 14th 2007 3:47PM
I contributed to that with a new Wrangler, but how could they have sold enough of those hideous Compasses and Patriots?
Aaron @ Sep 14th 2007 3:48PM
tough pill to swallow for the anti small jeep nuthuggers here..
Good on them.
Chris @ Sep 14th 2007 4:47PM
The Wrangler and Patriot are the only Chrysler vehicles I would remotely consider.
mmello @ Sep 14th 2007 5:14PM
Didn't this happen when AMC owned Jeep too? Seems like as long as whatever parent company owns Jeep does a good job expanding and maintaining the brand then they'll see rewards like this, even when their other brands lag behind. The XJ Cherokee sure kept AMC going from 84-87 when Renault was sucking AMC's blood, from what I've read.
howard @ Sep 15th 2007 10:45AM
Hey mmello; Evidently you're not old enough to remember WWII when thousands of JEEPS were assigned, stolen and kept hidden for personal use all over the world! It was a known fact that if a JEEP couldn't "GO UP THERE" nothing could so they went around whatever it was! It was CHRYSLER's good fortune that when the JEEP program came available they jumped on it! I put many miles on a JEEP after WWII, Lockheed bought 100 of them still in crates, my dad was working for Lockheed and bought two of them for $100.00 a piece! I got one to drive to school and he sold the other one! More fun than a barrell of monkeys and the girls loved it!
J. D. Billiford @ Sep 14th 2007 5:27PM
>>> A round of applause are in order for Chrysler and the Jeep division in particular. I always believed the new four-door Wrangler would be a success, and the same could be said for the Patriot.
Although the Compass seems to repeatedly take a beating from its critics, a surprise verdict appears to have come back from the jury based on this information. Despite being the "ugly duckling" of the family, the Compass seems to be holding its own.
Aaron B @ Sep 19th 2007 1:55PM
The Patriot may be a good vehicle in some consumers eyes, but my first hand experience is awful. The manual 4 x 4 Patriot has problems. In less than 90 days, the clutch has went out twice and now a loud knocking sound occurs when accelerating and stopping. The first clutch repair took 13 days, as they were waiting on parts, and then realized they needed other parts. The second repair took 13 days for whatever reasons again. Now they have had my car for 5 days and still cannot diagnose the issue. The best part of all of this is that I have been stuck with the inconvenience of getting rides, borrowing cars, and dealing with a horrible customer service division. Since my extended care covers me for a rental for 5 days, it has been chaotic, asking for an extension the first repair, which after pulling teeth I had authorized. The second time, I didn't even try. Now the selling dealer has it, and if they can not diagnose it with a warranty covered problem I may be stuck with the bill for my rental car(knowone can give me a clear answer). How many days should be to long for a diagnosis? Knowone knows. They could have it for a year and then tell me it is not covered and I am stuck with the bill. Does anyone at Chrysler give two hoots? No, they just give me a run around and read off of customer response sheet. I am mailing out my lemon law defect notification today, but we'll see how that goes. Probably as chaotic as everything else I have dealt with in regards to the car.
Aside from all the crap, the car is a pretty cool small SUV. I would never suggest anyone buying a new Patriot or even a JEEP at all, unless it was made before 2000. Those babies will goes for 300000 miles. They just don't make them the way they used to. And they sure enough don't care for the customer anymore.
AlexP @ Sep 14th 2007 5:39PM
Such a shame the Patriot is an unreliable plastic trashcan, because I dig its looks.
Barney @ Sep 14th 2007 7:28PM
The recall may hurt Jeep sales but I doubt by much. Jeep is still a limited vehicle and Chrysler needs a vehicle that will sell in volume. Jeep alone, will not get Chrysler to float.
El Norte @ Sep 14th 2007 8:31PM
"tough pill to swallow for the anti small jeep nuthuggers here.."
Why cite the Compass and Patriot? I see no sales information in this "article" to back up the assertion that the Compass and Patriot "are keeping Chrysler afloat."
The Wrangler (specifically the 4-door) has been a blockbuster, but it seems a little odd to include the Compass (and the jury is still out on the Patriot sales figures).
A wee bit short on facts.
Frank @ Sep 14th 2007 10:20PM
You have an internet connection. Go look up the sales figures. Lots of Calibers, Patriots, and yes, even Compases sold - enough to keep the factory humming. The figures are posted on dozens of sights. Do you have to have everything handed to you?
El Norte @ Sep 15th 2007 11:12AM
"You have an internet connection. Go look up the sales figures. Lots of Calibers, Patriots, and yes, even Compases sold -"
I did... and suggest you do the same.
The top four best-selling Jeeps *don't* include Compass or Patriot. Put another way: The Compass and Patriot are the two worst-selling Jeeps. Compass and Patriot sales together don't match the Wrangler.
Here's the breakdown on current year to date (through August)
2007
Compass 28,421
Patriot 23,367
Wrangler 83,944
Liberty 62,035
Grand Cherokee 82,827
Commander 45,615
Frank @ Sep 15th 2007 4:27PM
Your not looking that the whole picture. I never said Compass and Patriot were selling better than the Wrangler. They are for different markets anyway. Taken together Compass and Patriot (they are essentially two variations on the same vehicle) sales are 51,788. That's more than the Commander. And most of those sales are to people who would not normally buy a Jeep. Now add them to the sales of the Caliber and as I said before you have one factory humming along at nearly 100% capacity (with the current two shift rotation).
El Norte @ Sep 16th 2007 2:48AM
"Your not looking that the whole picture."
And you're not making any sense. Rationalize this all you want, but the Compass and Patriot sales are anything but stellar. The Patriot gets a pass due to it being a recent introduction. The Compass sales are also a bit misleading when you consider the incentives being put on it.
Take Caliber out of this as well... it's a Dodge. You can't argue that a Compass is a "real" Jeep and then lump it's sales figures in when convenient.
"I never said Compass and Patriot were selling better than the Wrangler"
Please re-read the above "article." It specifically cites the Wrangler, Compass, and Patriot as sales saviors. When I questioned the inclusion of the Compass and Patriot you got snarky and instructed me to use my internet connection to retrieve the numbers.
I did, and the Compass and Patriot are the two worst-selling Jeeps. You rationalized that if you add the sales of the Compass and Patriot together, they outsell the third worst-selling Jeep (Commander). Brilliant.
OK... how about this: using your rationale, we should add the Commander sales to the Grand Cherokee sales.
The Commander's selling like hotcakes!
Don @ Sep 15th 2007 12:29AM
I know car guys seem to universally hate the Compass...but it IS selling.
chewy @ Sep 15th 2007 1:06AM
I love my 4rd wrangler, even though it's on it's 2nd recall.
Aaron B @ Sep 19th 2007 1:33PM
Don't buy a JEEP Patriot 4 x 4 manual. They have problems and Chrysler doesn't care enough to make sure their customer is happy. In 80 days, my patriot has been in the shop for 30 of them. Hell of a new car.
After two clutch failures, it now has a knocking that may not be diagnosed or covered under the warranty. Apparently it is a reoccuring issue as there were two in for the same reason where I purchased my vehicle at. A Jeep is not a Jeep anymore. Buy one for grandma, but if you actually drive your car, stay away from this specific model. There is something more than stuff breaking, it is badly engineered or something of the sort.
J. D. Billiford @ Sep 19th 2007 3:15PM
>>> Good grief, Aaron! I, as we all I'm sure, are sorry to hear about the problems you're having with your new Patriot. It's always painful to hear (or read) when someone has put down their hard-earned cash for a product, car or otherwise, that does not perform to the customer's satisfaction.
Hopefully, the problems will be accurately diagnosed and corrected without further incident.
Once again, things like this just give credence to the old philosophy of never buying a new model vehicle in its first year of production.
In the meantime, hang in there buddy and keep us posted on the outcome.