Chrysler’s August Sales Down 34%

Chrysler’s August Sales Down 34%
http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/chryslers-august-sales-down-34/

Chrysler LLC’s first month without car leasing went just fine, thank
you. Okay, maybe not. The beleaguered automaker’s sales are down 34%
last month and 24% for the year, with the second number going down 1
percent in each of the past 3 months. There were few bright spots, the
biggest being the Town & Country minivan, up 15% and Charger up 3%
(*cough* fleets). The Dodge Journey continues to sell well at 4,587
CUV’s sold this month, and everything else was petrified from too much
time on the lots. The smaller Jeep Patriot was down 21%, which wasn’t
as bad as its hideous fraternal twins, the Compass (down 56%) and Dodge
Caliber (down 57%). Most other vehicles are again in negative double
digit territory. Dodge Durango didn’t do quite as badly this month, up
to 1,430 from 384 in July. The Durango Hybrid (DuH) hasn’t gone on sale
yet, so we’ll wait for the numbers to bump next month. Or not.

 

Chrysler Canada Aug/08 sales are down 24% compared to Aug/07

Chrysler Canada YTD sales are down 0.35% compared to 2007.

In Canada, Dodge Ram August sales are up 14% over August 2007, and up
25% YTD. Dodge Nitro August sales up 31% vs 2007.

Dodge Grand Caravan and Chrysler Town & Country August combined sales
are slightly more than double what they were in Aug 2007.

Jeep Wrangler August sales were 18% higher than 2007.

No mention of the Journey - is it sold in Canada?

What's a CUV?

 

Crossover Utility Vehicle

Journey just came out a few months ago. Based on the Sebring/Avenger
platform. About the size of the old short wb minivans.

 

That makes no difference. What matters is how profitable each line is.

When they were doing the leasing they were losing money on many
models, on every sale. More sales just meant you lost money faster.
Now without the leasing they are making more money on each sale so they
are much better off.

Ted

 

Here our dealers are sold out of Calibers.
Could that be why their sales are down?
A huge number of 300s on their lots though.

A few weeks ago I went around to a few of our several Chrysler dealers,
looking for a 2004 300M.
Few 300Ms available, but lots of sales talk trying to convince me I
should get a 300. Just like politicians, try anything!

 

Yes the Journey has been at my CDN dealer for a few months.

IMO it's a small van, just like the Pacifica is a larger van.
If the spare is slung underneath, it's not a car or CUV.

Chrysler knows that, that's why they discontinued the small van.
Very good price if you like it and the 4 cyl does the job for you.

 

The leasing losses come at lease end when they the off lease vehicle is
worth less than they predicted. It will take a year or more for that
difference to show.

 

Anyone who has actually driven a Pacifica would not mistake it for any
kind of van. The AWD model in particular would embarrass more than a
few ordinary sedans going around corners.

 

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The Pacifica, in particular the late models Limiteds with the 4.0 V6 and
dual exhaust was probably one of the nicest cars
(truck/van/crossover/whatever) that Chrysler has made in many years. It
was quick, comfortable and handled better than many cars I've driven. I
truly hate they axed it.

 

Amen to that. If Nardelli et al cannot make money building Tourings
and Limiteds, like they originally started out to in 2003 with pretty
loaded 'base' models, then there is something seriously amiss at
Chrysler. It looked like somebody panicked when the sales numbers
weren't what they expected.

There wasn't a lot wrong with the original models that could not have
been fairly easily corrected. I'm happy enough with the reputedly
bulletproof 3.5L but the 4-speed transmission just doesn't cut it..
However, the panel fit in places is appalling. The trim fit at the A
pillars should not be acceptable in an econobox, let alone a vehicle
they were asking CDN$53,500 for. Nevertheless I bought one.

The marketing of the vehicle was appalling from the word GO and heads
should have rolled. As near as I can tell it had next to no
advertising exposure in print or TV. I cannot recall a single
instance in any local newspaper ad in the 4 years since I bought my
AWD, that any Pacifica model was ever mentioned. It's all trucks,
Jeeps, vans, and 300's. And God help you trying to find a sales droid
who actually knew anything about the vehicle. The only reason
Chrysler got my business, first vehicle of theirs I'd ever bought, was
their Internet web site. For all the good their dealers in town were,
they might as well shut them all down and sell through eBay.

Bringing out the new stripped base model as a Chrysler IMHO was a huge
mistake. From the outside, you can hardly tell the difference between
a loaded Touring and a model costing $15K less. Reminiscent of the
mistake Cadillac made 20 years ago when their cars looked exactly like
Oldsmobiles costing 1/2 the price.