Jeep, Ram Drive FCA U.S. Sales to New September High

FCA US says its new-vehicle sales reached a new record for September, as light-vehicle deliveries totaled 190,360, a 19.0% jump daily from year-ago, according to Wards Intelligence data (25 sales days this year vs. 26 in September 2017).

Fleet sales accounted for 25% of FCA’s total for the month, the automaker says.

As per the norm, the Jeep and Ram brands drove most of the volume in the month, but FCA also got positive results from its Dodge and Alfa Romeo brands as well.

“Our Ram and Jeep brands propelled both our retail and total sales to their highest levels in 18 years,” notes Reid Bigland, head of U.S. Sales.

Cherokee (up 94.0%) and Compass (51.3%) led the way for the Jeep brand, which rose 18.7% daily on 83,764 deliveries. The month was the ninth straight of record sales for the brand and the sixth time this year its volume topped 80,000 units. Renegade was a weak spot, down 9.9%.

Fullsize pickups (up 13.5%) powered Ram sales, which rose 12.7% on a daily basis to 54,736 units, a September record for the brand. Light-duty pickup sales set an all-time monthly record.

Chipping in to the overall positive results for FCA were Dodge, with sales jumping 46.3% on a 18.8% rise in Challenger demand and a triple-digit-percentage increase in Caravan deliveries. Alfa posted a 34.4% surge daily to 1,639 units, with the Stelvio CUV accounting for about half the brand’s volume. Giulia demand slid 14.2% in the month.

Chrysler brand sales dipped 3.1% to 14,683 units, and still-struggling Fiat suffered a 44.1% daily decline on just 1,185 units.