Jeep News: Jeep Finds Itself With A Lot of Wranglers

[William Maley]

Jeep is seeing record sales of the Wrangler, Through November, sales climbed 25 percent over 2017, to 220,232 vehicles. This year also saw monthly sales record of 29,776 Wranglers sold in April.

But there is a bit of problem with the Wrangler. According to Automotive News, dealers have over a 100-day supply of the model. In the beginning of November, dealers were sitting on a 156-day supply of Wranglers. The number has fallen to 135-days at the beginning of this month. But it is still a perplexing problem. How can Jeep dealers have such a huge backlog of Wranglers, despite selling a fair number of them?

There are two reasons. The first deals with production. FCA's Toledo, Ohio plant has undergone some changes that allow it to produce nearly double amount of vehicles of the previous line. CEO Mike Manley has said the additional capacity will allow Jeep to expand sales of the Wrangler to other markets.

But the other reason is a bit troubling. Some dealers tell AN that the Wrangler is getting too expensive. The starting price of the Wrangler two-door rose $3,950 over the previous generation, while the four-door Unlimited jumped $3,550. The Wrangler is one of the few FCA vehicles that "has traditionally been retailed with little or no consumer cash".

"I have the largest Wrangler supply I have ever had. That car has gone up in the last three years $12,000! These freakin' things are $55,000 now. I think that vehicle is price-sensitive, and I think they went a little far with the pricing. They were a little aggressive," said an unnamed dealer in the Midwest.

The dealer said the "higher average transaction prices" could lead to higher resale value, "but it's bad when you start putting the price to the point where consumers can't buy them."

Other dealers are confident they can continue to sell the Wrangler, despite the higher prices.

"We've built capacity and just need to continue to adjust to it. I don't think there's an issue for that car at all," said Eric Nielsen, dealer principal at Nielsen Automotive Group in northern New Jersey.

"As with any vehicle within the industry, there is some seasonality when it comes to the Wrangler, and dealers are already preparing for a strong spring," a spokesman for FCA told AN.

Source: Automotive News (Subscription Required)

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[Drew Dowdell]

Some of the mix will swing to Gladiators in a few months time and then the Wrangler supply will go back down.  Weren't they going to build a third vehicle in Toldeo too? I can't remember. 

[regfootball]

there is a limit to how much you can price a wrangler.  due it being not luxury

[Robert Hall]

42 minutes ago, regfootball said:

there is a limit to how much you can price a wrangler.  due it being not luxury

I went to the build and price and maxed out an Unlimited 4x4 Moab w/ all the options..$57780.00.   Wowza.   I'd rather have a Grand Cherokee Summit w/ the V8 for a similar price. 

Edited December 27, 2018 by Robert Hall

[Drew Dowdell]

3 minutes ago, Robert Hall said:

I went to the build and price and maxed out an Unlimited 4x4 Moab w/ all the options..$57780.00.   Wowza

[regfootball]

So Jeep is pricing their cars like GM.... "keep jacking up the price"

[Drew Dowdell]

32 minutes ago, regfootball said:

So Jeep is pricing their cars like GM.... "keep jacking up the price"

Just the Wrangler I think.  The Compass, Cherokee, and Renegade still seem reasonably priced.

The Cherokee is probably the last compact crossover with a V6 aside from the Journey..... I can't think of any others, can you?

[frogger]

Cherokee is reasonable after the $6000 mfg discount on Limited and higher trim levels up here right now.

 

[ocnblu]

17 hours ago, Drew Dowdell said:

Weren't they going to build a third vehicle in Toldeo too? I can't remember. 

New Ram midsize, wasn't it?  Anecdote:  local dealer moved their Wranglers out front... yuge line of every color in the book... all expensive as heck... a 2-door, stick Wrangler for $35k?  Silly talk.

[daves87rs]

I don’t have an issue with some being priced to the moon, but they should have a wide range of price to appeal to as many folks as possible. It’s pretty much priced to the image/yuppie person now. It’s no longer geared to the entry level/ younger consumer, which are/will be their biggest fans...

Yes, they will keep selling them, and make a buck or too. But folks at some point are simply going to look for other products, which will hurt it in the long run.......

[Drew Dowdell]

On 12/29/2018 at 8:36 AM, daves87rs said:

I don’t have an issue with some being priced to the moon, but they should have a wide range of price to appeal to as many folks as possible. It’s pretty much priced to the image/yuppie person now. It’s no longer geared to the entry level/ younger consumer, which are/will be their biggest fans...

Yes, they will keep selling them, and make a buck or too. But folks at some point are simply going to look for other products, which will hurt it in the long run.......

^^ This.  As long as there are still base models for people to buy, a $60k version is fine also.  Nothing wrong with selection.

Still, they may need to put some cash on the hood to get the lower models to move.