Jeep Drives FCA’s July U.S. Sales Gain

FCA US got a strong performance from its Jeep brand and promising results from its key Chrysler 200 midsize sedan as it posted its best July U.S. sales since 2005.

Light-vehicle sales totaled 177,326 units in July, according to WardsAuto data, up 6.4% on both a volume and daily-rate basis from year-ago’s 166,583 (26 selling days in each period), with both cars and trucks up by the same margin.

Despite the gains, the results were somewhat below expectations for the month, with forecasts calling for a 7.4% increase for the automaker overall.

Clearly driving FCA’s performance is Jeep, which saw deliveries jump 22.9% for its best July on record. Wrangler, Cherokee, Patriot and Compass all posted individual July records as well.

Also on a positive note, FCA’s average transaction prices gained last month, according to Kelly Blue Book, rising 0.6% from June levels and 2.4% from like-2014. The slight bump from June outperformed the industry overall, a welcome sign for the automaker, which has been trailing key competitors on a profit-per-unit basis.

“Last week FCA announced a 69% increase in second-quarter profits and now we post our best July U.S. sales since 2005,” Reid Bigland, head of U.S. Sales, says in a statement. “With Jeep sales up 23%, we were also able to achieve our 64th-consecutive month of year-over-year sales increases.”

In addition to Jeep, FCA’s key 200 sedan recorded a strong month, with volume nearly doubling from year-ago to 15,108 units in July. To date, sales of the revamped model are up 128.1% from like-2014.

Coupled with a 6.3% gain for the 300 fullsize sedan, Chrysler-brand sales overall rose 9.7% in July, making it one of only three FCA brands in positive territory for the month.

Eking out a 2.3% rise for July was Ram, as fullsize pickup sales gained by the same margin.

Not performing as well were the Dodge brand, down 12.7% despite strong Charger, Challenger and Journey results, and Fiat, off 15.0% as the new 500X fails to offset declines for older models.

FCA ended July with an 82-day supply of vehicles in stock, at 563,809 units.

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