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Chrysler Group sales up 20%

Chrysler Group reported a sales increase of 20 percent, the 16th month of year-over-year sales gains, led by a 46 percent gain in Jeep® sales compared with last July, USA Today reported.

"In a market that remains tougher than a cheap steak, we were able to produce our high-est retail sales in more than three years," said Reid Bigland, head of U.S. sales, as well as CEO of the Dodge brand, in the USA Today article. "I think that statistic is the ultimate testa-ment to the progress we have made with our product in the areas of fuel economy, quality and design."

Chrysler Group?s 20 percent jump in auto sales compares with a 7.6 percent sales in-crease reported by General Motors Co. and an 8.9 percent increase at Ford Motor Co., the Detroit News reported. Bloom-berg noted that Chrysler Group exceeded analysts? estimates of a 15 percent gain.

The Wall Street Journal not-ed that Chrysler Group upgrad-ed many of its current vehicles last year in hopes of reviving sales and market share in the U.S. The improvements, as well as a broader recovery in the auto sector, have helped Chrysler report stronger results, the Wall Street Journal added.
The Jeep® brand was the crown jewel, with a record month for Wrangler (14,355 sold, up 43 percent) , USA To-day said.


Jeep® Wrangler gets better with age



The Toledo-made Jeep® Wrangler may be getting bet-ter with age, The Toledo Blade claims.

The Wran-gler had its best-ever monthly sales in July following its 70th birthday last month, The Blade reports.

In honor of that occasion, AOL Autos high-lighted some historical Jeep trivia. For example, the original design for the Willys Jeep® was put together in an amazing 49 days.
 
More than 640,000 Jeep 4x4s would be built during World War II, AOL Autos said. By the end of the war, the Jeep name was established not only in the United States but in the places it had fought: Germany, Italy and North Africa. General George C. Marshall called Jeep "America's greatest con-tribution to modern warfare."

Over the years, Jeep vehi-cles have been made in 23 countries, the story said.

The company has been ex-panding the distribution of Jeep models in Europe, and the Chrysler Group CEO says that he is open to building any Jeep model abroad to serve a local market - except for the Wran-gler, AOL Autos said.



Dodge Durango named Top Safety Pick

The 2011 Dodge Durango was named a Top Safe-ty Pick in the midsize luxury SUV category by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, Cars.com reported.

                               


NY Times: Chrysler is one of the most "remarkable" turnarounds in history

"In what surely ranks as one of the most remarkable turna-rounds in the annals of Ameri-can business history, (last) week Chrysler reported adjust-ed net income of $181 million and a 30 percent rise in reve-nue, to $13.7 billion, even in a still-soft global car market," the New York Times said.

The Times noted Chrysler Group?s market share has grown to 10.6 percent from un-der 6 percent following its June sales report.

The Detroit News reported a new management structure for Fiat and Chrysler Group was announced. The joint leader-ship structure is designed to "ensure speed, clarity of direc-tion and unity of purpose," Chrysler Group CEO Sergio Marchionne said. "When two enterprises integrate, they share everything: industrial re-sources and know-how, pro-jects and targets, challenges and ambitions."

A Detroit Free Press article asked: Why should we think the merger-in-progress of Chrysler and Fiat will work out any better than the ill-fated marriage of Daimler and Chrys-ler? Or any better than the pur-chase by private equity outfit Cerberus, which ended in bankruptcy and bailout?

Dan Knott, Chrysler?s top purchasing executive put it like this, the paper said. "When I need a decision from Sergio, it comes at lightning speed, where before it would take months."

Maybe this time it really will be a "Merger of Equals," col-umnist Dan Howes of the De-troit News wrote.

This time it feels different because it is different, Howes added. "Chrysler may actually have a leadership team with the confidence to respect its capabilities, the vision to see its possibilities and the maturity to know the difference," Howes wrote.


Fiat brand launches new ad campaign

                              

Fiat has just launched its first advertising campaign since returning to North America and the new tagline is "Simply More," Edmunds Inside Line said.
Adweek said the sense you get from Fiat?s new TV spot is that the "car of the future may be designed for tomorrow but fondly looks to yesterday for its sense of style."

"The tagline, "Simply more,? positions the model as a deceptively diminutive vehicle that hits well above its weight," Adweek said.

Chrysler gives back

A stirring gospel version of Eminem?s "Lose Yourself," per-formed by the Selected of God choir, is now available on iTunes, according to the Detroit Free Press.

The Selected of God choir was first featured in the Chrys-ler brand Super Bowl commer-cial "Born of Fire," AutoEvolu-tion.com noted.
Mediapost.com reported Eminem's "Eight Mile Style" label will donate all publishing proceeds from the song ?available on iTunes for 99 cents ? to three local Detroit charities, as part of the "Imported from Detroit Project."

In an interview with the Free Press, Olivier Francois, Chief Creative Officer for Fiat and Chrysler, said, "It started as more than a campaign ? a vision of being part of the comeback story of Detroit, to-gether with Chrysler?s come-back story. From the start, there was the idea of doing something generous for Detroit. It became a kind of movement."



Organizations that stand to benefit are the Abayomi Com-munity Development Corp., a family services group; the Yunion youth mentoring pro-gram; and the Robert S. Shu-maker Foundation, which awards scholarships, Autoblog said.

The Free Press said the initi-ative is part of an important next phase for "Imported From Detroit," which is rolling out a new slogan: "Never Give Up. Always Give Back."

 

Chrysler Group News Update is published by Chrysler Group Communications and intended for distribution to dealership employees to highlight company and industry news. It includes third-party news sources that do not reflect Chrysler Group views or policies.