Blame Sandy: Super Storm Found Guilty Of Raining On Chrysler October Sales
Chrysler Group’s U.S. sales rose only 10 percent in October, the smallest gain since May 2011. As suspected yesterday, Super-Sandy has been fingered as the culprit.
Chrysler told Automotive News [sub] that “October sales were affected by the major hurricane and storm that pummeled the eastern U.S. seaboard early this week.” Dodge is up 20 percent, Ram 17 percent. The Chrysler brand gained only 5 percent.
Jeep sales are down 5-percent, which oddly was blamed on the hurricane, along with the discontinuation of the Jeep Liberty.
Ford sales are unchanged from October 2011, GM is up 5 percent. Toyota sales are up 15.8 percent. Jefferies analyst Peter Nesvold said that Sandy could have cost 100,000 unit sales in October. If that forecast would come true, there would be zero gains in October.
Read more: http://www.autonews.com/article/20121101/RETAIL01/121109995#ixzz2AzH3uVdFWe shall follow the October sales numbers throughout the day.
Chrysler Group LLC U.S. Sales Summary Thru October 2012
Month Sales
Vol %
Sales CYTD
Vol %
Model
Curr Yr
Pr Yr
Change
Curr Yr
Pr Yr
Change
500
3,720
1,965
89%
36,462
15,826
130%
FIAT BRAND
3,720
1,965
89%
36,462
15,826
130%
200
8,758
11,205
-22%
109,025
69,755
56%
Sebring
0
0
0
2,380
-100%
300
5,183
3,701
40%
58,813
27,077
117%
PT Cruiser
0
0
0
1,328
-100%
Town & Country
8,281
6,338
31%
95,850
78,255
22%
CHRYSLER BRAND
22,222
21,244
5%
263,688
178,795
47%
Compass
2,486
5,179
-52%
34,389
39,192
-12%
Patriot
4,209
3,581
18%
53,270
46,234
15%
Wrangler
11,310
9,892
14%
119,787
101,820
18%
Liberty
4,099
5,997
-32%
67,773
55,322
23%
Grand Cherokee
11,919
11,084
8%
123,994
96,853
28%
Commander
0
0
0
105
-100%
JEEP BRAND
34,023
35,733
-5%
399,213
339,526
18%
Caliber
92
1,840
-95%
10,113
32,430
-69%
Dart
5,455
0
New
14,709
0
New
Avenger
7,637
7,136
7%
82,376
52,164
58%
Charger
4,924
3,626
36%
68,409
57,779
18%
Challenger
2,686
3,097
-13%
36,309
33,254
9%
Viper
0
12
-100%
20
156
-87%
Journey
5,955
5,028
18%
65,306
46,734
40%
Caravan
10,603
7,100
49%
118,730
92,930
28%
Nitro
29
2,031
-99%
3,269
20,784
-84%
Durango
3,230
3,864
-16%
33,282
42,944
-22%
DODGE BRAND
40,611
33,734
20%
432,523
379,175
14%
Dakota
2
642
-100%
490
11,299
-96%
Ram P/U
25,222
21,037
20%
238,815
199,010
20%
Cargo Van
385
157
New
5,664
292
New
RAM BRAND
25,609
21,836
17%
244,969
210,601
16%
TOTAL CHRYSLER GROUP LLC
126,185
114,512
10%
1,376,855
1,123,923
23%
TOTAL CAR
38,455
32,582
18%
416,236
290,824
43%
TOTAL TRUCK
87,730
81,930
7%
960,619
833,102
15%
Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.
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Its easy to blame the Weather and yes even in the very last days of the Month of October, ahh it's hard to make such a case, could it be the result of Consumer Reports recently released comments about Chrysler Vehicles?
It may be mentioned earlier, but in a few months there will be some storm damaged cars on the market which might not be labeled as such. Buyer beware!