July 2nd, 2009 by Bill Cawthon
As part of Chrysler Group’s shift to a brand-oriented structure, Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep will now have their own chief of design. All the brand chiefs will report to Ralph Gilles, senior v-p for product design.
At Chrysler, the design team will be led by Brandon Faurote. Faurote, 37, previously was v-p of advance design, international and color/trim. He worked on the Chrysler Firepower concept, Dodge Neon, Chrysler PT Cruiser, Chrysler Sebring coupe and the 1999 Jeep Grand Cherokee.
The Dodge team will report to Joseph Dehner, 44, who previously was v-p for production cars, minivans, truck and Jeep design. Dehner participated in the Chrysler Pacifica, Crossfire, 2007 Chrysler Sebring (sedan and convertible), 2001 Sebring and worked on the Stratus exterior.
Mark Allen, 46, will head up the Jeep team. It won’t be a major change for Allen who was formerly chief of Jeep and Dodge truck design. Among his credits are the 2009 Dodge Ram 1500, 2010 Dodge Ram Heavy Duty and the hit 2006 Jeep Wrangler.
July 1st, 2009 by Bill Cawthon
June light vehicle sales came in just under 860,000 units, down 27.7 percent compared to June 2008. The leaves automakers 35.1 percent behind last year’s pace at the end of the first six months of 2009. The seasonally adjusted annualized sales rate (SAAR) refused to break the 10 million mark, stopping at 9.69 million, and failing even to meet May’s 9.91 million SAAR. This has to be a bit of a disappointment as a lot of industry insiders and watchers were looking for the 10 million figure as an indication sales were beginning to recover somewhat. The results were blamed mostly on the continuing reluctance of consumers to buy and lenders to finance, but there may have also been some potential customers waiting on the sidelines for the government’s “cash for clunkers” program to go into effect.
Ford June sales were down a better-than-predicted 11 percent with several models, including the Fusion, Escape and Expedition, coming in ahead of their year-ago numbers. Volvo sales were actually up compared to last June, something that has not happened in months. The Fusion is now the top-selling American-badged car for the first six months of 2009.
GM sales fell 33.4 percent, more than analyst predictions, as orphan brands Hummer, Saab and Saturn saw big declines and fleet sales dropped 49 percent. Pontiac, on the other hand, did rather well, coming in second only to Buick. Over 9,000 Camaros left dealer lots in June, making it the most popular muscle car for the month.
Chrysler sales were down more than predicted as good retail sales were hurt by poor fleet sales due, in part, to the fact the company shut down production for several weeks while it was in bankruptcy. The company reported retail sales were down just 16 percent.
The Chrysler minivans outsold the Toyota Sienna, but even the combined sales of the Town & Country and Caravan couldn’t equal the sales of the Honda Odyssey, which were up 11.8 percent in June. Even though its sales were down in June, the Jeep Wrangler remains the best-selling traditional SUV in America. Ram pickup sales picked up, leaving the big Dodge just 10 percent behind last year. Only the Ford F-Series and Nissan Titan posted better results.
Toyota sales fell 34.6 percent, leaving the leading Japanese automaker in third place in both monthly and year-to-date (YTD) sales. Once-high-flying Toyota’s in unfamiliar territory, with YTD sales 37.9 percent behind the January to June period in 2008, its first operational losses in six decades and a major crunch in California, where Toyota is a major player. Sales of Toyota’s once-hot Scion brand are down 60.4 percent this year. Toyota did get one bit of good news: the Camry is now outselling the Chevy Silverado and is second only to the Ford F-Series in YTD sales.
Nissan came in 23.1 percent short of hitting last June’s numbers as a 32.3 percent drop in Infiniti sales and slow car sales pulled down a relatively good showing from its truck line. Sales of the Titan full-size pickup showed a slight increase.
Honda sales were down 29.5 percent last month; the Odyssey was one of the few bright spots in Honda’s June results. Honda has settled in fourth place, behind Toyota and ahead of Chrysler, in both June and YTD sales. The new Insight Hybrid is having difficulty competing with the well-established Toyota Prius which is outselling the Insight almost 6 to one.
Mitsubishi reported sales down 41.8 percent in June. After six months of 2009, Mitsubishi has sold less than half as many vehicles as they turned in the first six months of 2008.
Subaru of America reported record sales of 18,620 vehicles, up more than 3 percent from last June. The uptick leaves Subaru just 0.8 percent behind its 2008 sales, the best record for any mainstream automaker.
Mazda finished the month 42.2 percent behind June of 2008. The Hiroshima-based former Ford subsidiary seems to be losing its “zoom-zoom” as sales are now down 34.5 percent on the year.
Suzuki sales fell off a cliff, down 78.0 percent as inventories of the discontinued Daewoo-built Forenza were sold off. Sales of the XL7 and new SX4 also took major hits. So far this year, Suzuki is the automaker with the biggest year-over-year deficit.
Lexus beat BMW by 130 sales to become the top luxury brand for the month, but BMW still holds the lead in YTD sales. BMW sales were off by 20.1 percent and Mini sales were down by 21.2 percent. The BMW 3-series was the top luxury car for the month.
Porsche sales plunged nearly 66 percent as sales of the Cayenne SUV nose-dived 76 percent. Porsche, which sold 2,650 cars last June, sold just over 900 vehicles last month.
Mercedes-Benz numbers were down 22.6 percent and Smart sales took a 56.2 percent hit.
Volkswagen, the best-selling European line in both June and YTD sales, reported an 18.0 percent drop. Jetta sales were up 16 percent. The Chrysler-built Routan had its best sales month ever with 2,099 finding new homes in June. Audi reported sales were down 8.3 percent in June but said it probably achieved its highest luxury market share since April.
Hyundai sales dropped 24 percent in June, leaving it in seventh place among the automakers; a surprise for at least one analyst who predicted it would take Nissan’s place as anchor of the six major automakers. Hyundai did outsell Dodge for the first time (by 7 units) to become the sixth best-selling brand in June, though Dodge still has a solid lead at the end of the first six months of this year.
Kia sales were down just 5.1 percent, thanks to strong sales of the Sportage and the new Soul.
Domestic brands continued to lose ground in June, giving up 0.2 percent of the market. Compared to the first six months of 2008, Chrysler, Ford and GM’s American brands have lost 3.1 percent of the light vehicle market. Surprisingly, the Japanese have not been the beneficiaries; they lost 1.3 percent of their share from last year in June and are down 0.1 percent for the year.
The big winners are the Koreans, Hyundai and Kia, which took another 0.9 percent of the market in June and have gathered 2.1 percent in YTD share since June last year. The Europeans have flourished, too, relatively speaking, having picked up 0.8 percent in June; they now have 8.5 percent of the light vehicle pie, up 1.0 percent from last year.
While passenger cars still claim the majority of sales, light trucks, including pickups, SUVs, CUVs and minivans, have made up some of the ground they lost when gas prices went through the roof last summer. Trucks accounted for an extra 2.1 percent of sales, compared to last June, and are now 0.2 percent ahead of where they were for the first six months of 2008. As of today, gas prices are about $1.46 lower than they were at the end of June 2008 and it shows in improved numbers for a number of light trucks, including the Dodge Ram. As it doesn’t look like gas is going to be much more expensive than it is now, buyer interest in trucks (with their generous incentives) is likely to continue moderate growth.
Top Twenty (Total sales January-June 2009)
1. Ford F Series – 179,632
2. Toyota Camry – 150,242
3. Chevrolet Silverado – 149,949
4. Honda Accord – 131,043
5. Toyota Corolla – 121,643
6. Honda Civic – 118,459
7. Nissan Altima – 96,428
8. Dodge Ram Pickup – 94,516
9. Ford Fusion – 85,146
10. Honda CR-V – 78,917
11. Chevrolet Impala – 78,687
12. Ford Escape – 76,402
13. Chevrolet Malibu – 75,829
14. Ford Focus – 69,354
15. Toyota RAV4 – 62,241
16. Hyundai Sonata – 60,481
17. Honda Odyssey – 56,554
18. Toyota Tacoma – 53,161
19. GMC Sierra – 50,067
20. Jeep Wrangler – 48,890
July 1st, 2009 by Bill Cawthon
Chrysler Group LLC increases retail market share more than 1 percentage point compared with June 2008
– Dodge Challenger sales increase 34 percent compared with June 2008
– Dodge Ram retail sales up 4 percent compared with June 2008
– Jeep Liberty retail sales increase 8 percent year-over-year
– Dodge Journey retail sales increase 7 percent compared with June 2008
Chrysler Group LLC today reported more than a 1 percentage point increase in retail market share with June U.S. retail sales of 66,324 units. Retail sales declined 16% compared with the same time period in 2008.
During the month of June, Chrysler Group LLC did not produce any vehicles for fleet sales, which resulted in a fleet sales reduction of 95 percent year-over-year for the same period.
Chrysler Group LLC reported total U.S. sales for June 2009 of 68,297 units, a decrease of 42 percent compared with June 2008. The company finished the month with 195,272 units in inventory, representing a 71-day supply. Inventory is down 56 percent versus June 2008 when it totaled 440,075 units. Overall industry figures for June 2009 are projected to come in at an estimated 9.7 million SAAR.
On June 1, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court approved the sale of the majority of Chrysler LLC’s assets to a new company, Chrysler Group LLC, in alliance with Fiat S.p.A., and on June 10, the transaction closed, forming Chrysler Group LLC. As of June 29, 2009, Chrysler Group LLC has resumed production at eight of its manufacturing facilities.
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Chrysler Group LLC U.S. Sales Summary Thru June 2009
----------------------------------------------------
Month Sales Vol % Sales CYTD Vol %
Model Curr Yr Pr Yr Change Curr Yr Pr Yr Change
----- ------- ----- ------ ------- ----- ------
Sebring 1,752 5,111 -66% 10,685 48,022 -78%
300 2,917 4,528 -36% 19,299 40,014 -52%
Crossfire 83 189 -56% 318 1,094 -71%
PT Cruiser 1,103 6,216 -82% 8,591 32,830 -74%
Aspen 479 944 -49% 4,963 13,233 -62%
Pacifica 241 307 -21% 1,727 4,195 -59%
Town & Country 7,178 9,833 -27% 43,737 67,806 -35%
CHRYSLER
BRAND 13,753 27,128 -49% 89,320 207,194 -57%
------- ------ ------ --- ------ ------- ---
Compass 967 2,075 -53% 5,762 18,393 -69%
Patriot 2,765 4,889 -43% 13,498 36,684 -63%
Wrangler 4,810 6,670 -28% 48,890 46,443 5%
Liberty 3,815 4,993 -24% 23,705 40,910 -42%
Grand Cherokee 3,623 6,054 -40% 23,090 42,793 -46%
Commander 628 1,961 -68% 5,503 16,313 -66%
JEEP BRAND 16,608 26,642 -38% 120,448 201,536 -40%
------- ------ ------ --- ------- ------- ---
Caliber 3,538 6,099 -42% 17,307 59,111 -71%
Avenger 2,308 4,187 -45% 14,738 41,453 -64%
Charger 3,489 8,352 -58% 29,461 58,525 -50%
Challenger 1,369 1,024 34% 15,082 1,095 1277%
Viper 20 79 -75% 309 594 -48%
Magnum 28 188 -85% 113 6,249 -98%
Dakota 645 2,443 -74% 6,743 17,379 -61%
Ram P/U 14,478 16,149 -10% 94,516 128,944 -27%
Journey 3,796 5,162 -26% 25,949 22,731 14%
Caravan 5,820 14,214 -59% 41,747 75,805 -45%
Durango 369 1,723 -79% 2,827 14,909 -81%
Nitro 1,471 2,577 -43% 9,885 23,898 -59%
Sprinter 605 1,490 -59% 2,752 8,403 -67%
DODGE BRAND 37,936 63,687 -40% 261,429 459,096 -43%
------ ------ --- ------ ------- ---
TOTAL CHRYSLER
GROUP LLC 68,297 117,457 -42% 471,197 867,826 -46%
TOTAL CAR 15,504 29,858 -48% 107,314 257,147 -58%
TOTAL TRUCK 52,793 87,599 -40% 363,883 610,679 -40%
Selling Days 25 24 152 153
------------ -- -- --- ---
July 1st, 2009 by DaveAdmin
A certain auto blog has been crowing over spy shots (taken from its corporate brother, a pickup truck dot-com) of the 2010 Dodge Ram R/T. One of them was clearly taken at a corporate event held nearly a year ago; Allpar has had a similar photo posted since then (click on the photo to see a full-size version in context, along with an interior photo not shown at those other, much more ad-laden sites).
July 1st, 2009 by Bill Cawthon
In an interview with Bloomberg News, Chrysler Group CEO Sergio Marchionne, says the rate at which the company is going though cash has slowed since it emerged from bankruptcy last month.
“We are still burning cash, but it’s slowed down by far,” Marchionne, told Bloomberg reporters in New York City yesterday. “The question is how quickly we can stop the bleeding. That is priority No. 1.”
Chrysler Group is working with $6 billion in fresh government-supplied funding and went through $8.9 billion last year. Marchionne wouldn’t disclose the new company’s cash burn rate but does plan to provide updates on the automaker’s financials, even though it is not a publicly traded company.
Marchionne said, “It would be very useful for the public, and the people who have funded us, including the taxpayers, to know how we’re doing,” adding he’s working on the specifics of what to report and when with the Treasury.
July 1st, 2009 by Bill Cawthon
Faced with a tough credit market, declining vehicle sales and the loss of Chrysler Group’s wholesale financing business to GMAC, Chrysler Financial cut nine percent of its 3,900-person staff yesterday. In addition, the company will consolidate retail credit acquisitions into the Auburn Hills Great Lakes business center and is closing its customer contact center in Overland Park, Kansas.
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