JEEP Sales Down but Renegade UP!

Compared to this time last year, FCA sales have fallen by quite a bit and that includes the Jeep brand which fell by 12% overall. The biggest losers were the Cherokee which was down by 37%, in spite of generous incentives and the Compass which fell 24%. Surprisingly, even Jeep's flagship vehicle and breadwinner, the Wrangler fell by 7%. In fact, the only vehicle in the Jeep line up not to loose sales was the Renegade and amazingly, its sales were up by 30%!

So, what does all this mean? Well, if I could read the tea leaves, I'd have to think that JK Wrangler sales are falling due to people starting hold out to see what the all new JL Wrangler has in store for them. Of course, that could all change once they do see it but historically, that doesn't typically happen. The other wild card could be that people are finally starting to weigh the extreme cost and value of a JK Wrangler when compared to something like a RAM pickup truck and the proof of that is their sales are up by 8%.

In addition to the Compass not being the best looking vehicle in the line up, it's also getting replaced with a much sexier version next year and I'm sure it's going to be hard to unload what's on dealership lots now. And, speaking of the newly designed Compass, it really is what the Cherokee should have looked like and I'd have a hard time not believing that potential Cherokee buyers are now waiting for it to be available. I could be wrong on this but looking at the significant drop in sales for both models, it's hard not to come to that conclusion.

Of all this news, Renegade sales being up is what really took me by surprise me especially being that full size truck sales have really taken off in America and that smaller vehicles are starting to fall out of favor again. Even I was starting to question whether or not it would ever take off but I will say that I am starting to see more and more of them on the road.