Chrysler Group Reports 17th Consecutive Month...

[Variance]

Link (p/w req'd): http://cgmedia.daimlerchrysler.com/newsrel...d=1779&roomid=1

Chrysler Group Reports 17th Consecutive Month of Sales Increases


* Jeep® brand sales lead Chrysler Group performance; Sales rise 16 percent year-over-year
* Sports Tourer segment sales perform well; Sales increase 6 percent over last year
* Truck segment sales volume improves; Dodge Ram pickup sales continue as volume leader for the Company
* 2006 Dodge Ram 1500 goes on sale today; First pickup to offer best-in-class HEMI® power with fuel-saving Multi-Displacement System (MDS)
* DaimlerChrysler Fund to provide matching funds by Chrysler Group dealers and employees to assist Hurricane Katrina relief efforts


Auburn Hills, Mich., Sep 1, 2005 -

Made possible by the strong foundation of desirable products and competitive value, Chrysler Group today reports its 17th consecutive monthly sales increase. Sales increased 1 percent adjusted (5 percent increase unadjusted) to 187,085 units sold during August 2005. All other sales are reported on an adjusted basis unless otherwise indicated.

"August sales results validate our approach of combining eye-catching, desirable products with a clear, competitive value message," said Gary Dilts, Chrysler Group, Senior Vice President - Sales. "The devastation brought by Hurricane Katrina had some impact on our sales during the final stretch of August. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families in that region as they begin the long process towards rebuilding their lives."

Chrysler Group saw sales strength in several key segments during August, including the Sports Tourer, SUV and Truck segments.

Sport Utility Vehicles
Chrysler Group's SUV segment sales were led by the historic Jeep® brand which posted sales of 40,659 units, an increase of 16 percent over August 2004 sales. Sales were fueled by gains in each of the three nameplates in the Jeep lineup.

Sales of Jeep Grand Cherokee surged 27 percent to 17,931 units compared to August 2004 sales of 13,563 units, while sales of the original SUV descendant, Jeep Wrangler, increased 11 percent to 7,079 units. Previous year sales of the Jeep Wranger totaled 6,123 units. Jeep Liberty posted sales of 15,649 units, an increase of 8 percent year-over-year compared to August 2004 when 13,874 units were sold.

The all-new Jeep Liberty Common Rail Diesel (CRD) posted year-to-date sales of 5,096 units, exceeding full-year sales projections of 5,000 units while delivering 25 percent improved fuel economy for their enthusiastic new owners.

The Jeep lineup of vehicles will expand by one row to accommodate the all-new Jeep Commander, the first Jeep with three rows of seats. Excitement for the Jeep Commander is high as orders for the vehicle exceed 40,000 units. Arriving at dealerships daily, the Jeep Commander is a fully capable Jeep while delivering the refinement expected by customers.

Trucks
Sales in the truck segment for Chrysler Group were led by the Dodge Ram pickup, which posted sales of 38,681 units, an increase of 1 percent year-over-year. Sales for August 2004 totaled 36,677 units. Overall sales for the truck segment increased to 49,427 units sold compared to last year's total of 47,317.

Beginning today, the new 2006 Dodge Ram 1500 pickup is available for sale at Dodge dealerships nationwide. The 2006 Dodge Ram 1500 has been completely re-engineered, and is the first truck to include the availability of the Multi-Displacement System along with best-in-class HEMI® power, which provides up to 20 percent fuel economy improvement. Also included in the enhanced features are an all-new frame and suspension, all-new interior, bold exterior styling and a truckload of value.

Sports Tourer
The Sports Tourer segment was led by sales of the Chrysler Pacifica and the Chrysler PT Cruiser as the Sports Tourer segment saw sales increase 6 percent to 20,142 units compared to August 2004 sales of 18,312 for the segment.

The Chrysler Pacifica posted sales of 6,804 units, an increase of 14 percent over August 2004 sales of 5,747 units. The Chrysler PT Cruiser improved 12 percent to 9,812 units sold. Previous year sales of the PT Cruiser were 8,407 units.

"Economic indicators are showing stronger signs of improvement, but customers are still looking for a deal on cars and trucks," said Dilts. "We will continue to offer our Employee Pricing Plus program to customers as we aggressively work to sell down 2005 model year inventory. The Employee Pricing Plus program will end on October 3, 2005. This is absolutely the best deal you are going to see this year on Chrysler Group products"

Chrysler Group finished the month with 495,786 units of inventory, or a 69-day supply.

[Northstar]

Toyota nearly outsold DCX for the month. I find it funny that Chrysler thought their big inventory would give them a big month, yet they were only up 5%. What did the 300 and Charger do? The article didn't mention them.

[CSpec]

      DaimlerChrysler Corporation U.S. Sales Summary Thru August 2005                Month Sales     DR %   Vol %     Sales CYTD       DR %   Vol %    Model     Curr Yr   Pr Yr  Change Change   Curr Yr   Pr Yr  Change  Change    Sebring    5,853    8,035   -30%   -27%    62,427    76,094   -18%    -18%    Concorde       0      221  -100%  -100%       210     3,772   -94%    -94%    300        9,934   12,001   -20%   -17%    94,101    65,709    44%     43%    Crossfire  1,262    1,205     1%     5%    10,276    10,110     2%      2%    PT Cruiser 9,812    8,407    12%    17%    88,437    79,858    11%     11%    Pacifica   6,804    5,747    14%    18%    61,498    51,854    19%     19%    Town &     Country  10,614   12,336   -17%   -14%   132,907    95,208    40%     40%    CHRYSLER     BRAND    44,279   47,952   -11%    -8%   449,856   382,605    18%     18%    Wrangler   7,079    6,123    11%    16%    59,234    58,155     2%      2%    Liberty   15,649   13,874     8%    13%   118,878   117,361     2%      1%    Grand     Cherokee 17,931   13,563    27%    32%   149,796   122,363    23%     22%    JEEP     BRAND    40,659   33,560    16%    21%   327,908   297,879    11%     10%    Neon      10,992    9,199    15%    19%    86,988    83,222     5%      5%    Stratus    6,616    4,776    33%    39%    70,918    68,120     5%      4%    Intrepid              321    NA     NA        298     7,199   -96%    -96%    Charger    5,222        0     0%     0%    16,912         0     0%      0%    Viper        162      144     8%    13%     1,059     1,279   -17%    -17%    Magnum     4,585    5,410   -19%   -15%    39,795    17,866   124%    123%    Dakota     8,206    9,770   -19%   -16%    77,322    76,651     1%      1%    Ram P/U   38,681   36,677     1%     5%   283,310   295,239    -4%     -4%    Caravan   16,678   18,832   -15%   -11%   166,917   168,483     0%     -1%    Durango    8,465   10,523   -23%   -20%    81,136    92,831   -12%    -13%    Ram Van/     Wagon         0       71  -100%  -100%       402     5,988   -93%    -93%    Sprinter     Van       2,540      799   206%   218%    12,295     6,189   100%     99%    DODGE     BRAND   102,147   96,522     2%     6%   837,352   823,067     2%      2%    TOTAL CHRYSLER     GROUP   187,085  178,034     1%     5% 1,615,116 1,503,551     8%      7%      TOTAL CG       CAR    41,100   37,154     6%    11%   357,897   327,291    10%      9%      TOTAL CG       TRUCK 145,985  140,880     0%     4% 1,257,219 1,176,260     7%      7%    Selling     Days         26       25                     204       205

[Northstar]

Under 10k for the 300? I don't remember the last time it was under 10k for a month. Obviously it's losing some steam. 5200 Chargers is no good. The HHR outsold it in it's first full month.

[Flybrian]

Under 10k for the 300? I don't remember the last time it was under 10k for a month. Obviously it's losing some steam.

[post="7942"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

Its natural. Everyone who wanted one pretty much has one by now. Sales'll level off at ~5-7k a month until something new comes out.

[Guest Josh]

Not to mention the lack of discounts on the LX vehicles. The Charger will make up for the lost volume of 300's. The rebate bug will hit the LX cars but not nearly as big as other vehicles from domestic automakers.

[Petra]

The Charger is on track to sell about 30,000-35,000 units this year. Not too impressive, although it looks slightly better when you realize it'll only have been on sale for about 6 months. On the plus side, total LX volume for the Magnum, Charger and 300 will equal about 236,000 this year. And, though the W-Bodies and (inexplicably) the Taurus still sell more, the LX's generate much more profit per unit... for now, anyway. Anyone else find it amusing that sales of the Sprinter increased 100%?

[regfootball]

Magnum and 300 are both DOWN, but Magnum + Charger + 300 = better than last year's 300 + Magnum, so I'm not sure what to make of it other than these cars to me are 'large niche' products....and in my own mind its proof enough that killing the FWD Intrepid variant for Dodge was a huge mistake. Well, it was a good 18 months or so. Edited September 2, 2005 by regfootball

[Matt276]

Magnum and 300 are both DOWN, but Magnum + Charger + 300 = better than last year's 300 + Magnum, so I'm not sure what to make of it other than these cars to me are 'large niche' products....and in my own mind its proof enough that killing the FWD Intrepid variant for Dodge was a huge mistake.  Well, it was a good 18 months or so.

[post="8160"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

It was a real bad idea. The Charger is not selling over here. GM is not in a so bad position after all. FWD remains the mainstream. Lutz said he would not have allowed such designs to go into production.

[enzl]

It was a real bad idea. The Charger is not selling over here. GM is not in a so bad position after all. FWD remains the mainstream. Lutz said he would not have allowed such designs to go into production.

[post="8309"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

On what basis can you make this claim? GM is, according to this very Board, struggling to patch together a RWD program for volume vehicles, so how is this logically consistent?

Also, consider that the Charger is getting up to speed, competes on many showroom floors with the 300 and the Employee Discount did not apply to these vehicles at all.

[VenSeattle]

Here are some #s for comparison between the LX & LH platform...

I chose 1995 & 2001 for comparisons in fairness because both are about 2-3 years after their introduction (LH debuted as 1993 models and then remodeled in 1998/1999)

As for the lack of Charger sales history... I can definitely agree that the Charger will continue to increase in sales, but I have a feeling the sales increase will come at some expense to the Chrysler 300's V6 powered Base & Touring trims)

2005 estimated sales (based on 8 months of sales):
300: 141,151
Magnum: 59,692
Charger: 62,664 (August sales x12 - new vehicle)
total: 263,507

1995 Sales:
New Yorker: 23,624
LHS: 29,418
Concorde: 60,613
Vision: 29,821
Intrepid: 178,679
Total: 322,155

2001 Sales:
300M: 36,583
LHS: 8,852
Concorde: 32,331
Intrepid: 109,098
Total: 186,864

as for the best year for the LH sedans... I believe it was 1994:
New Yorker: 34,283
LHS: 44,739
Concorde: 85,636
Vision: 31,271
Intrepid: 155,170
Total: 351,099

[sciguy_0504]

Did 40,000 consumers actually order a Commander or did dealerships order 40,000?

[Northstar]

Did 40,000 consumers actually order a Commander or did dealerships order 40,000?

[post="8481"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

I was confused by that too, but it must be dealerships. There's no way 40k people would buy it without seeing it or test driving it.

[I hope GMRULES again]

If I was GM I wouldn't be too worried about the DCX LX cars. With fuel prices the way they are I think demand for the big 300 and Charger will drop off. GM's FWD V-6 cars like the new Impala are much more fuel efficient then them. Who the hell wants a Hemi nowadays?

[Morrinn]

If I was GM I wouldn't be too worried about the DCX LX cars. With fuel prices the way they are I think demand for the big 300 and Charger will drop off. GM's FWD V-6 cars like the new Impala are much more fuel efficient then them. Who the hell wants a Hemi nowadays?

[post="8917"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

Well... I want a hemi nowadays... I'm all for GM, but to me there is just no denying the fact that Chrysler/Dodge has the upper hand in the large sedan segment today.

I mean, bland looking fwd blobs? If it wasn't for the 5.3 I might as well just buy a Toyota. (Hypothetically of course, naturally I would never even consider such a despicable deed in real life). ^_^

[enzl]

If I was GM I would be very worried about the DCX LX cars. This is where the intangibles of car sales come into play. The LX cars showed that DCX had the balls to bring out bold designs that people would really buy. Sure, the sales are dropping off now, but they have already done their job brightening DCX's image. A V8 in an outdated platform (Bonniville anyone?) and a few roadsters here and there are not going to put the company back on it's feet image wise. GM needs to show it has the balls to do what Chrysler did, but only on a much grander scale. I see a two door Sigma called El Dorado, Riviera, Firebird and Camaro. I also see two and four door Zetas called Impala, Electra, DTS and Bonniville. Go for broke marketing all of these like DCX did with the LX cars. GMT900's be damned.

[post="9910"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

Nail on the head.