[wdundas]

Following last year's fall of nearly 50% in sales, Jeep sales in Australia have fallen a further 35% in the first half of 2017 compared with the first half of 2016. Just 4565 new Jeeps were registered so far this year.

The only bright prospects in the immediate future are the start of right hand drive new Compass in India (which will provide the new model to Australia, and the coming release of the new model Wrangler in 2018.

Chrysler 300 sales are averaging less than 30 a month and there are currently no new Dodges for sale here. A handful of RAM HD models are privately imported and converted to right hand drive.

Sales of Alfa Romeo have increased since the release of the Giulia, and the Stelvio, due for release next year, should be strong in our SUV/crossover obsessed market. Fiat 500 and 500X trickle out of delerships and are rarely sighted.

 

[AlfaCuda]

What's the reason for the Jeep drop?

 

[Deckard_Cain]

I read somewhere that the auto journalists in Australia have constantly been attacking Jeep and that its reputation is in the gutter. Is that true?

 

[77 Monaco Brougham]

It seems that a good many FCA vehicle owners in Austrailia are deeply unhappy with what they perceive as poor quality and reliability......not to mention horrible dealer experiences!

Sound familiar, folks ? ? ?

Jeep learning from quality control issues

ACCC action for unhappy Jeep, Fiat owners

 

[wdundas]

What's the reason for the Jeep drop?

There are several factors.

1 The $US:$A exchange rate has moved sharply against USA origin vehicles, despite there being no import duties onUSA vehicles.
2. Some really terrible stories about poor dealer and manufacturer support on cars that had many quality issues.
3. The lack of new models to sell against fast moving makers like Toyota, Kia, Hyundai, and Nissan.
4. Major scandals involving FCA Australia managers (now departed).

 

[wdundas]

I read somewhere that the auto journalists in Australia have constantly been attacking Jeep and that its reputation is in the gutter. Is that true?

Repiutation is in the gutter, but journalists are only reporting what unhappy customers are telling them.

 

[Hemidakota]

Journalism has the same level of unhappiness with Jeep products or poor excuse of claim to be writers who rather follow fiction or fabrication vice researching for truths. Resounding of the same fools who fought against the Savior during His mortal ministry. Trying to create a perception among the flock or followers. Here, Jeeps is the number one use car seller, along with specific trucks. Even here locally, use car lots refuse to sell Nissan products for a reason. Yet, our Latino brothers and sisters think it is great car. Perception? Perhaps....

 

[90243]

Australian automotive market is changing and will continue to change in next future.

2016: for the first year at top of sales there is Toyota Hilux (a pickup) 42,104 units (+16.4% vs. 2015) and 4th Ford Ranger (a pickup) 36,934 units (+31.8% vs. 2015).
SUVs are going up while standard "cars" are going down.

2016 Vehicle Sales – Trends In The Australian Automotive Market (at http://www.acaresearch.com.au/australian-market-research-blog/are-we-reaching-peak-automotive-in-australia-a-review-of-2016-vehicle-sales )

Domestic production is disappearing
No Cookies | Herald Sun (at http://www.heraldsun.com.au/technology/why-australian-car-manufacturing-died-and-what-it-means-for-our-motoring-future/news-story/0428dc235d1b44639459959f5a3bbf9b )

 

[Prabhjot]

This is a deep pre-fca legacy issue: corrupt Chrysler corp aussie management, awful dealers, Jeeps that did not meet the ever higher qdr benchmark expectations that've in the last decade or so developed by Australians via the ever increasing sales of Japanese and Korean cars/suv-s and pickups.

Then us$-aus$ serious trouble, even as the yen and the won and the thai baht have been WAY down, enabling the East Asian firms to rampage away in the Aussie market.

The, recently, an internet-meme in Australia blasting Jeep quality and dealers, complete with a couple of gone-viral youtube videos by 'disgruntled' 'acting out' 'angry' customers.

They're working on it at fca: HUGE restructurings at fca australia, including all-new senior managers (and dealers) there.

Maserati and Alfa sales are very up, though in and through this. And THE real fightback in the aussie market for Jeep begins once the 2/3 right hand drive Jeeps start getting exported out of India shortly, starting with the new Compass: as we speak, actually.

Even for tiny-in-Australia FIAT, the possibility of exports in-the-post-2020 future rhd (say) of 500X, 500L or nextgen Panda/cross are being explored by fca india (based on localized componentry and supply chain developed already for the susw Compass, then next year/2019: the refreshed Renegade.)

Note that Japan is also rhd, as is the UK. Building with high-localization in India for rhd market exports is the FCA strategy for these markets (mass market models), since otherwise competing on cost, given currency values etc, in say Australia or a post-brexit uk or a depreciated-yen Japan would be impossible (with even half decent margins, that is), against the Japanese and korean marques/firms that are so dominant in esp Asia-ex-china very much including, by now and these-days: Australia.

 

[TripleT]

With other larger emerging markets like China and India, with tremendous up side, one wonders how much effort this market warrants at this time given its relative small size. I would think taking care of the Indian market and support it through those operations including management and sales would be the best course forward.

 

[Prabhjot]

The two go-together!

India is structurally an oligopolistic type marketplace. 70+% share as a near GIVEN for Suzuki and Hyundai(Kia joining soon.)

FCA needs export volumes out-of-India in order to make up the resultant scale-deficit in India (locally-made.) Very high tariff walls in india too.

They are trying to (a) go big in India over the next few years via Jeep and then hopefully back-again-with-locally-made-all-new-FIATs

AND (b) grow well via a focus on sales, service and marketing in the large right-hand-drive markets (japan, australia, s africa, thailand, UK.....) of exported-from-india mass market models (Jeeps only foreseeably, could vey well be some FIATs post-2020 imo.) At the same time.

FCA has (a) large other lines of business in India (engines, the tata jv, magneti marelli gearboxes+lighting etc (b) has a large and old and well-regarded technical center full of very inexpensive engineers now being scaled up A LOT for local as well as global development-work and (c) has traditionally been very very small and weak/struggling in right-hand-drive markets (both Chrysler corp and the old FIAT group.)

 

[Deckard_Cain]

Repiutation is in the gutter, but journalists are only reporting what unhappy customers are telling them.

Ok, thanks for clarifying. So this seems to me like some long-standing issues that finally caught up to FCA even though they've came from the past. As usual with other markets, they need to improve reliability and dealer experience.

This is a deep pre-fca legacy issue: corrupt Chrysler corp aussie management, awful dealers, Jeeps that did not meet the ever higher qdr benchmark expectations that've in the last decade or so developed by Australians via the ever increasing sales of Japanese and Korean cars/suv-s and pickups.

Then us$-aus$ serious trouble, even as the yen and the won and the thai baht have been WAY down, enabling the East Asian firms to rampage away in the Aussie market.

The, recently, an internet-meme in Australia blasting Jeep quality and dealers, complete with a couple of gone-viral youtube videos by 'disgruntled' 'acting out' 'angry' customers.

They're working on it at fca: HUGE restructurings at fca australia, including all-new senior managers (and dealers) there.

Maserati and Alfa sales are very up, though in and through this. And THE real fightback in the aussie market for Jeep begins once the 2/3 right hand drive Jeeps start getting exported out of India shortly, starting with the new Compass: as we speak, actually.

Even for tiny-in-Australia FIAT, the possibility of exports in-the-post-2020 future rhd (say) of 500X, 500L or nextgen Panda/cross are being explored by fca india (based on localized componentry and supply chain developed already for the susw Compass, then next year/2019: the refreshed Renegade.)

Note that Japan is also rhd, as is the UK. Building with high-localization in India for rhd market exports is the FCA strategy for these markets (mass market models), since otherwise competing on cost, given currency values etc, in say Australia or a post-brexit uk or a depreciated-yen Japan would be impossible (with even half decent margins, that is), against the Japanese and korean marques/firms that are so dominant in esp Asia-ex-china very much including, by now and these-days: Australia.

Does India have any free-trade agreement with Japan?
I think FCA as such a big potential if they start manufacturing Fiats and Jeeps for RHD in India for the domestic market but also for export to Japan and Australia.
Actually FCA has a decent size in the japanese market for a foreign group. And the product portfolio of Fiat actually fits like a glove in the japanese market. They love their micro-cars, and that's Fiat's strong suit. I could see a RHD Fiat 500 and Panda being a success in Japan.
And I could see the Panda being a success in India.

 

[Prabhjot]

Yes, i agree, but for now at least it is: NO new Fiats in or from India, all-in with the Jeep compass (+exports), the facelifted 2019 Renegade(+exports) and maybe the Jeep '515' b-suv for emerging-markets (2019?2020?) and exports of it to other parts of Asia.

imo a post-Brexit UK would also require Indian cost-competitiveness for some of these rather lower-price+margins (FIAT) models: depreciated uk pound, possible tariffs to and from the EU......?

UK+Japan+Australia.......+India rhd volumes adds up, then, to a VERY tidy, because-enough-scale, 'business case' for fca in and for India (at least, foreseeably, for the new, smaller fca Jeeps, hopefully post-2020 for new FIATs too, like say the 500X, 500L or the nextgen Panda/Cross.)

 

[TripleT]

Remember right hand drive 500s, Tipo, and Panda are already made in Europe as part of the development and plant operation to service England so aside from logistic and trade issues it not really a issue on that product line as it has nearly always been that way. While volume and scale the Jeeps from India make ton of sense from a manufacturing perspective.

 

[90243]

2016 was record year for FCA in Japan with more than 20k sales.
Of which 6,717 for Fiat (6,032 in 2015), 9,388 for Jeep (7,129 in 2015), and 2,240 for Abarth (1,472 in 2015).

2016 Sales Volume Exceeds 20,000 Units for First Time | Media | FCAジャパン株式会社 (at http://www.fcagroup.jp/media/457/?_locale=en )

Foreign Auto Manufacturers Making Rapid Advances in Japan / JapanGov (at http://www.japan.go.jp/tomodachi/2017/summer2017/foreign_auto_manufacturers_making.html )