Chrysler announced today that it posted its best-ever September sales figures since 2005, selling a total of 169,890 vehicles last month. This represented a 19 percent jump on a year-over-year basis, also making it the 54th straight month in which the company’s sales increased over the past year’s monthly numbers.
One of the biggest drivers of Chrysler’s success was the Jeep Cherokee, which had sold a total of 14,639 units last month. That allowed the Cherokee to outsell the Wrangler and Grand Cherokee, which sold 13,955 and 12,854 units respectively in September. Since the model’s November 2013 release, Jeep has sold a total of 128,133 Cherokees, while Jeep’s total sales for September mark its best total for that month in brand history.
Chrysler’s Ram brand also did great guns in September 2014, as the brand sold 36,612 vehicles in September, good for a 30 percent year-over-year jump. Cutting down the figures to smaller pieces, light duty trucks enjoyed a 21 percent uptick, while heavy duty truck sales were up 49 percent from September 2013. In terms of year-to-date figures, Ram has sold 319,868 pickup trucks and 337,148 vehicles, which is good for a 22 percent/25 percent improvement compared to last September’s year-to-date total. Recently, Ram announced that it is changing up its blend of vehicles, doubling the percentage of Ecodiesel-powered trucks from 10 percent to 20 percent of all trucks manufactured.
Unfortunately for the Dodge brand, September was not a very good month, as Dodge sold 44,020 units last month, down 9 percent year-over-year. Year-to-date sales are now at 443,957, which is 4 percent lower than last year’s total as of the end of September. While the Viper supercar was one of Dodge’s best performers in terms of year-to-date improvement (108 units sold, up 140 percent year-on-year), more telling was the decline of models such as the Dodge Avenger, which sold just 1,667 units last month, down from September 2013’s 5,099.