The American car market in May reflected several stereotypes, not the least of which being that Jeep is the engine that’s currently driving the FCA machine. The picture as a whole? Well, it’s largely flat, with continued light truck demand seeming to offset dips in car sales. A good example of this is Toyota, which reported a 1.3 percent decline for the month of May before going on to explain that car deliveries were down 11 percent but light trucks were up nearly 6 percent. Like LeBron James, a man who single-handedly lifts the Cavs by scoring 50 points in a game only to see JR Smith throw it all away by thinking the score is tied, Jeep was largely responsible for FCA’s good fortunes in May. Proving the off-road brand remains the most valuable part of the empire, Jeep was up 28.8 percent last month — an increase of over 20,000 units. This is not an aberration; the brand has increased sales by 22.5 percent so far this year, up nearly 70,000 units during the … [Read more...] about May 2018 U.S. Auto Sales: FCA Is the House That Jeep Built
Industry
March 2018 U.S. Truck Sales: Springtime for Hauler
With an extra selling day compared to the March that came before it, last month saw U.S. new vehicle buyers continue doing what they’ve done for years. By that, we mean snap up trucks and SUVs like it’s going out of style. (There’s no indication it’s going out of style.) According to figures from Autodata, truck and SUV sales rose 16.3 percent in the U.S., year over year, while traditional passenger cars continued to fade from the minds of new vehicle buyers. That segment declined 9.2 percent, year over year. Monthly sales figures can be fickle, which is apparently the reason for General Motors’ switch to quarterly sales reports starting next month, but we prefer receiving data more often. And last month’s data paints a very different picture than February’s. Leaving SUVs aside, which pickups soared in March? If you suspect the bottom didn’t fall out of Ford F-Series demand, you’d be correct. Ford claims last month was the … [Read more...] about March 2018 U.S. Truck Sales: Springtime for Hauler