Go Back   DealershipForum.com > Domestic Franchises and Independent Dealers > Chrysler > Sales

Notices

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 05-03-2010, 05:56 PM   #1
XDCX
Administrator
 
Join Date: Nov 2007
Posts: 14,869
Default Chrysler's April Sales Report

While the other thread discusses sales results for the entire industry I wanted to create this thread to review Chrysler's performance.

Here's a link to the Press Release issued by Chrysler - click here

While it's great news Chrysler's sales are up 25% over last year, I'm betting that figure may be skewed by fleet sales. When you have a month where Sebring sales are up 207% and Avenger sales are up 340% I tend to get suspicious.

That said, the Dodge Challenger had its best month ever with a 42% sales increase over last year and it's not a vehicle that likely has much fleet exposure.

Additionally, it was great to see inventory drop from last year's levels when massive wholesale pressure resulted in overflowing lots and stretched floorlines.

The only other concern I see off-hand is sales of the LD and HD Ram - why does such a great truck have such poor sales results?
XDCX is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-04-2010, 08:54 AM   #2
jayhawk
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 2008
Posts: 290
Default

ld --hd ram - truck buyers today seem to be business people. our incentives are non competitive in todays market. being truck of the year wont make up for lack of free money or heavy incentives. its truly the best product in the world, however, ford and chevrolet still build pretty good trucks. we quit ordering trucks until we feel the company understands the reality of todays marketplace. just our opinion.
jayhawk is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-04-2010, 09:03 AM   #3
F&I Pro
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Posts: 263
Default

X-Man, regarding the Challenger sales increase, if you think back to a year ago, about the only Challenger available at this time were the Numbered SRT's limited edition of which there were only 6400 built if memory's correct and since we know not all 6400 were sold in the month of April it wouldn't take much to have even a 200% (intentionally inflated) increase.
Like you, I suspect those with the significant increases are due to fleet, not retail.....
AFTERTHOUGHT
Ya know, I was just thinking, I believe the number of NewCo dealers stand somewhere around 2000, (I could be wrong as memory isn't what it used to be) but if I somewhere close on that number, even assuming no fleet in those numbers, that's still only an average of 47.85 new vehicle sales per dealer for the month, How long can dealers survive if those numbers are any where close to accurate.

Last edited by F&I Pro; 05-04-2010 at 09:17 AM. Reason: add the afterthought
F&I Pro is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-04-2010, 10:16 AM   #4
XDCX
Administrator
 
Join Date: Nov 2007
Posts: 14,869
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by jayhawk View Post
ld --hd ram - truck buyers today seem to be business people. our incentives are non competitive in todays market. being truck of the year wont make up for lack of free money or heavy incentives. its truly the best product in the world, however, ford and chevrolet still build pretty good trucks. we quit ordering trucks until we feel the company understands the reality of todays marketplace. just our opinion.
I think you hit the nail on the head. The Ram is a great truck but the customers are not willing to pay a premium for it.

I also think Chrysler's failed to understand the basic psychology of most new truck buyers - if you're going to spend $50K+ on a new truck you expect more than a $1,500 rebate. My bet is most customers fear if they buy a new Ram today the rebate will go up in the future and no one wants to be the person who bought their truck before the big rebates came out.

Here's a suggestion for the Chrysler people from Auburn Hills who surf the site - offer a "Double the Difference Rebate Guarantee." It's a simple offer that let's your customer's know if the rebate on their new Ram LD/HD increases in the next 12 months that Chrysler will pay them double the difference.
XDCX is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-04-2010, 10:33 AM   #5
gingersnap
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 2009
Posts: 260
Default

MABC Numbers 6477 for april 2010 4953 for april 2009. 20,178 YTD 20,269 last Year. 40 Units for 1st page.
gingersnap is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-04-2010, 10:38 AM   #6
MisterM
Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2010
Posts: 65
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by F&I Pro View Post
X-Man, regarding the Challenger sales increase, if you think back to a year ago, about the only Challenger available at this time were the Numbered SRT's limited edition of which there were only 6400 built if memory's correct and since we know not all 6400 were sold in the month of April it wouldn't take much to have even a 200% (intentionally inflated) increase.
It was ~2 years ago for the 6,400 SRT8's ('08 models). A year ago the full lineup was available ('09 models).
MisterM is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-04-2010, 12:28 PM   #7
XDCX
Administrator
 
Join Date: Nov 2007
Posts: 14,869
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by MisterM View Post
It was ~2 years ago for the 6,400 SRT8's ('08 models). A year ago the full lineup was available ('09 models).
Thanks for the correction - that's what I was thinking too.

With all of the positive media coverage Ford's been getting with their new Mustang I'm pleased to see the Challenger have a good month.

Concerning F&I Pro's other comment, the last time I checked half of the dealers in the West BC sold 19 cars or less and only three sold 100 or more.

The fact that Chrysler cut 789 dealers so they could increase their sales/dealer and then they go into "hibernation" mode is insane.
XDCX is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-04-2010, 01:03 PM   #8
F&I Pro
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Posts: 263
Default

MrM, thanks for the correction, I forget sometimes that I've been with Ford for nearly a year now, time flies when you're havin fun....
F&I Pro is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-04-2010, 01:08 PM   #9
MisterM
Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2010
Posts: 65
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by XDCX View Post
I'm pleased to see the Challenger have a good month.
All things considered, the LX/LC models had a pretty good month. Challenger + Charger + 300 totaled almost 17k units.

For the Charger, 8,944 was the 2nd largest monthly total during the past two years.
MisterM is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-04-2010, 07:07 PM   #10
XDCX
Administrator
 
Join Date: Nov 2007
Posts: 14,869
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by MisterM View Post
For the Charger, 8,944 was the 2nd largest monthly total during the past two years.
I wonder how many of those had a spotlight installed on the A-pillar?
XDCX is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-04-2010, 10:55 PM   #11
MisterM
Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2010
Posts: 65
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by XDCX View Post
I wonder how many of those had a spotlight installed on the A-pillar?
I've never seen the breakout for those sales but I think they have done pretty well with them.
MisterM is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-02-2010, 12:32 PM   #12
Needhelp
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2009
Posts: 107
Default

Not wishing to post negative comments to the forum, I hesitated making this post, but if the #'s posted below are correct, Isn't it almost impossible for Chrysler to make money if so much of their sales are based on Fleet sales?

The numbers below were posted May 28th on CRDR.


Apr '10 vs. Apr '09 DSR % +/-

Company Retail Fleet Combined

GM 15% -7% 7%

Ford 31% 14% 25%

Chrysler -7% 145% 25%

Toyota 30% -11% 24%

Honda 13% 0% 13%

Nissan 36% 18% 35%

Hyundai 69% -54% 30%

Kia 33% -13% 17%

Industry 22% 10% 20%

Source: DOD-Sales and Industry Analysis

Fact: All major carmakers were up by double digits in April from Honda +13% to Hyundai +69% except Chrysler who was down -7%

Fact: Chrysler has been trying in arbitrations to explain away their sales declines by claiming we are comparing year ago sales at fire sale prices to this year's sales with lower incentives. The reality is transaction prices are up significantly throughout the industry and Chrysler incentives are still the highest. (e.g., April $3,664 pvr vs. industry $2,702 pvr)

Fact: The arbitrators need to know that Genesis is not a new plan, but a plan devised in the 1990s and is part of the reason Chrysler sales have deteriorated. It was this flawed thinking that helped drive the company into bankruptcy.

Fact: When asked in a recent arbitration to name any Genesis consolidations that resulted in more sales of Chrysler Corporation products after the consolidation the Dealer Development Manager of the Great Lakes Business Center failed to name even one.

If you are not currently a Genesis dealer you must convince the arbitrator that, while it may benefit the dealer, there is absolutely no evidence that this plan is in Chrysler's best interest. It's best if you can show data from your state where consolidations have resulted in lower sales and market share for Chrysler.
Needhelp is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-03-2010, 08:02 AM   #13
XDCX
Administrator
 
Join Date: Nov 2007
Posts: 14,869
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Needhelp View Post
Source: DOD-Sales and Industry Analysis
There's no question that Chrysler's sales are heavily tilted toward fleet - there's a reason they stop reporting Total Retail Sales to the dealers.

Do you know who the source of this data is? It says DOD but I don't know that firm/organization.

Concerning the report, it took me awhile to figure out the columns but I understand they're reporting that Chrysler's April Retail sales were actually down 7% but their Fleet sales were up 145% for a Total sales increase of 25%.
XDCX is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-03-2010, 11:22 AM   #14
Needhelp
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2009
Posts: 107
Default

I was hoping you would know who "DOD" was! I am working on finding out who this is, I will get back with you when I find out.

Also, sorry about the columns. When I copied there were 4 column headings ( 1.Company, 2.Retail, 3.Fleet and 4.Combined) and all data was linear under the column headings, however when I pasted the data lined up the way you viewed it. (Therefore the rows are correct and the columns are correct, the spacing is the issue.)
Needhelp is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-03-2010, 01:58 PM   #15
Needhelp
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2009
Posts: 107
Default

The report came from Toyota, DOD is an acronym for the Distribution Operations Department of Toyota. They can compile the information from Bobit business media reports, which is one source of fleet sales on a monthlybasis, RL Polk for registrations as well as Wards automotive and automotive media services for sales.
Needhelp is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
What's behind Jeep's 65% sales gain in April? XDCX Sales 8 06-03-2011 01:28 PM
April Sales Predictions XDCX Automotive Discussions 6 05-04-2011 12:06 PM
April Auto Sales Predictions XDCX Automotive Discussions 30 05-03-2010 03:18 PM
Chrysler's April Sales Results - Why were they so bad? XDCX Sales 2 05-22-2008 11:22 PM


All times are GMT -7. The time now is 12:10 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.5
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright DealershipForum.com - 2008 - 2016