Chrysler Group surges 45% in November
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DETROIT -- Resurgent sales of sedans and another strong showing across the Jeep brand lineup helped power Chrysler Group to a 45 percent sales gain in November, the automaker said today.
Several Chrysler Group models posted triple digit gains over a weak November 2010: Sales were up 215 percent for the flagship Chrysler 300 sedan to 4,066 units, 160 percent for the Dodge Charger to 5,099 units, and 102 percent for the full-sized Dodge Avenger to 5,643 units.
The Chrysler 200, the restyled version of the former Chrysler Sebring sedan, scored a 496 percent sales gain over the model it replaced a year ago, with sales of 8,065 units.
Overall, the automaker sold 107,172 units, up 45 percent from the 74,152 units dealers sold during November 2010, and marked Chrysler Group's 20th consecutive month of year-over-year sales increases, spokesman Ralph Kisiel said. For the year, Chrysler Group has recorded 1,231,095 sales, up 25 percent from the 984,509 units it sold through the end of November 2010, Kisiel said.
Sales of Jeep models continued what has been a banner year for the brand, led by a resurgent Jeep Compass, whose sales recorded a 887 percent gain to 4,262 units over very weak sales a year ago of only 432 units. Its line mate, the Jeep Patriot, had its sales in November rise 46 percent to 4,013 units, Chrysler said. At 36,246 units, the Jeep brand scored its best November since 2003, the automaker said.
Grand Cherokee sales rose 23 percent and Wrangler sales increased 41 percent. The Grand Cherokee recorded the second-most sales of any Chrysler Group vehicle in November at 13,545 units, and Wrangler was third with 9,225 units. Both SUVs were outsold last month by the Dodge Ram pickup, whose sales rose 8 percent to 19,739 units.
Many of the automaker's models had recorded weak sales in November 2010 as Chrysler Group finished updating 16 models across its lineup.
While four of Chrysler Group's brands scored sales increases last month, the lone exception was Fiat. U.S. sales of the Fiat 500 subcompact, which was introduced in March, fell for the third straight month in November, to 1,618 units.
The Chrysler brand's Town & Country minivan was the only Chrysler Group vehicle scheduled to continue production after the current model year to suffer a sales decline. It posted a 1 percent decline to 6,446 units. Its line mate, the Dodge Caravan, had its sales rise 3 percent to 6,053 units.
"If you had talked to me at the beginning of the year, I'd have said that [Chrysler's sales projections] were crazy. But not so much," said Anthony Sutton, general sales manager at Champion Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge in Indianapolis.
He said his dealership has done especially well with higher-end vehicles, such as Chrysler's performance SRT models.
"I would give anything to have as many SRT Grand Cherokees as I could get my hands on," Sutton said. "I've got them sold before they get off the truck. It's crazy."
You can reach Larry P. Vellequette at lvellequette@crain.com.
