Trucks, Dodge Brand Drive Chrysler’s U.S. Sales in May

The Dodge and Ram brands led Chrysler Group to its best May in six years and highest volume since March 2007, as U.S. new-vehicle sales rose 11.3% from year-ago to 165,466 units.

Truck sales, up 9.2%, continued to dominate, accounting for 67.2% of the auto maker’s total volume, at 111,115 units, outpacing the segment’s year-to-date share of 64.6%. Car deliveries gained 15.8% to 54,351.

Dodge-brand deliveries jumped 23.2% in the month, mostly on the strength of Dart volume, though the small car’s sales of 7,448 remained soft and fell short of April’s 8,099. All other models posted double-digit gains as well, except for the Caravan minivan, up a more modest 4.5%.

Ram demand spiked 25.8% over year-ago on a volume of 31,519. The fullsize pickup accounted for most of that with 30,542 deliveries, 23.6% ahead of like-2012.

The Jeep brand, up a scant 0.5%, took a hit from the phaseout of the Liberty, with sales totaling only 201 units. All other models posted healthy double-digit increases, led by the Compass (41.8%) and Grand Cherokee (20.8%).

Chrysler-brand sales fell 2.0% on a 17.9% decline for the 300 model and flat demand for the 200.

Fiat posted record May volume, but its 4,051 deliveries were only marginally ahead of year-ago’s 4,003.

“We continue to see strong retail sales throughout our product lineup, as eight Chrysler Group vehicles set sales records in May, including best sales ever by the Jeep Wrangler and Compass,” Reid Bigland, head of U.S. sales for the auto maker, says in a statement.

Chrysler says it finished the month with a 62-day supply of inventory on 398,869 units.

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