Chrysler Sales Increases By Four Percent

Lauren Woods
5 June 2007

Last month, DaimlerChrysler decided to sell 80.1 percent of the ailing Chrysler Group to investment firm Cerberus Capital Management. May also marked the second consecutive month that Chrysler posted an increase in sales. The American car manufacturer recently announced that they have sold 191,261 cars and light trucks last month on the way to posting a four percent increase in sale compared to May of 2006.

“Chrysler Group increased overall sales in May based on a strong retail performance and while fleet sales were down,” says Daryl Jackson, the Vice President for the United States Sales for Chrysler. “Especially our new offerings in the car segment continued to gain momentum, supported by the fuel economy message of our 'Maximize Your Miles' program. Driven by models like the Chrysler Sebring, Dodge Avenger and Dodge Caliber, the company's car sales increased 15 percent over the previous year,” he added.

For the Chrysler brand, May sales are down by 8 percent although car sales are up by 22 percent. Chrysler brand sold 53,157 cars and light trucks last month and that is lower than the 55,680 vehicles which were delivered by Chrysler last year for the same period. The best-selling auto model for the Chrysler brand is the Town & Country at 14,379 units sold. The Town & Country though suffered from decreasing sale. Last year, Town & Country sales reached 17,326 units for the month of May. The best achiever in the Chrysler brand lineup is the Crossfire which registered an increase of 93 percent.

For the Dodge brand, car sales for the last month are up by 11 percent although total brand sale is down by one percent. Chrysler sold 103,366 vehicles last month. The best-selling auto model from Dodge’s lineup is the Dodge Ram. Posting a two percent sales increase, Dodge sold 31,327 units of the Ram last month. The new Dodge Nitro also helped boost the overall sales output of the Chrysler Group. Last month, Dodge sold 6,110 units of the Nitro. The compact SUV which was Dodge’s first of its kind since the Raider was discontinued in 1990 is attracting consumers by its high powered engine which can be enhanced by Stillen cold air intake systems.

The most successful brand in the Chrysler Group in terms of sales increase is Jeep which posted an increase of 16 percent. The increased sale for the Jeep brand is brought on by the renewed interest on the redesigned Jeep Wrangler. For the month of May, the Chrysler Group sold 12,332 units of the Wrangler. Last year, 5,754 units of the Wrangler were sold by Jeep. Those sales figures show an increase of 106 percent for the Jeep Wrangler. An interesting fact is that the Wrangler is the only auto model to post sales increase in the entire lineup of the Jeep brand.

Year to date sale for the Chrysler brand is down by ten percent. For the first five months of 2006, Chrysler brand sold 270,547. This year though, from January to May, 244,070 units of Chrysler branded vehicles were sold. For the Dodge brand, year to date sale is down by three percent while for the surging Jeep brand, year to date sale is up by 11 percent.