Chrysler Group Sales Increase for Third Straight Month
* Chrysler Brand Sets First Quarter Record
* Chrysler Town & Country Breaks All-Time Month Record
* SUV Sales Establish New March Mark
* 'Dealer Orders Up 83% Since January' - Gary Dilts
AUBURN HILLS, Mich., April 3 Chrysler Group reported U.S.
sales of 234,495 units in March, a 3 percent improvement when compared to
February 2001 and 40 percent when compared to January 2001.
"We continue to gain momentum on a month-to-month comparison, which is
crucial coming into the Spring selling season," said Gary Dilts, Senior Vice
President - Sales. "This month's launch of the all-new Jeep(R) Liberty and
the subsequent introduction of the new Dodge Ram pickup this fall, gives us
good reason to be optimistic.
"The best barometer for momentum, however, is dealer orders," added Dilts,
"which are steadily moving up. Orders in March were up 83 percent when
compared to January."
Inventory numbers for March 2001 continued in the right direction as well,
added Dilts. "We've made a concerted effort to balance production with sales
over the last six months," he said, "acting more aggressively than our
competition." The result: Chrysler Group inventory has shrunk to a 53-day
supply (463,647 units), compared to 69-day supply (668,021) in March 2000.
March sales when compared to last year's all-time record March declined by
10 percent. The March 2000 record was the second best overall month in
corporate history, largely because of an aggressive sales incentive in Spring
2000.
Chrysler Town & Country set an all-time monthly record with sales breaking
the 16,000 mark, an increase of 32 percent compared to last year's record of
12,259. Total minivan sales of 48,855 continued to gain strength as well,
although down by 22 percent compared to last year's record month. That was a
steady improvement over the 25,453 minivan sales mark in January 2001, and
February's total of 36,944.
Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV) sales of 68,070 units established a new record
for March, rising 18 percent compared to March 2000. This volume surpassed
the previous monthly record of 61,854 set in 1999.
Chrysler-branded truck sales also established a milestone, with a March
record of 34,038 units, up 71 percent compared to last year's record of
19,950.
On the passenger car side, Dodge Stratus and Chrysler Sebring sedans and
coupes introduced last year continued steady progress. The new sedans reached
a mark of 18,373, up from 17,254 last month. Stratus and Sebring coupe
combined for a sales total of 4,245 units, the best month since their launch
in fall of 2000.
For the first quarter, the Chrysler brand set an all-time quarterly sales
record of 140,528, up 25 percent compared to last year. This beat the
previous all-time record of 128,432 set in the third quarter of 2000.
Month Sales DR % Sales CYTD DR %
Model Curr Pr Change Curr Pr Change
Yr Yr Yr Yr
Neon 4650 5992 -22% 12895 16141 -20%
Breeze 0 924 -100% 127 3512 -96%
Prowler 144 311 -54% 452 712 -37%
PLYMOUTH CAR 4794 7227 -34% 13474 20365 -34%
Voyager 0 5254 -100% 340 18039 -98%
PLYMOUTH TRUCK 0 5254 -100% 340 18039 -98%
PLYMOUTH BRAND 4794 12481 -62% 13814 38404 -64%
Cirrus 0 4830 -100% 371 13440 -97%
Sebring Sedan 4862 0 - 14273 - -
Sebring Coupe 1858 1600 16% 4498 4264 5%
Sebring Convertible 4451 6145 -28% 12180 16219 -25%
Concorde 2927 6374 -54% 8126 14295 -43%
300M 2655 4959 -46% 8847 12261 -28%
LHS 913 2355 -61% 3372 6560 -49%
Prowler 75 0 - 100 - -
CHRYSLER CAR 17741 26263 -32% 51767 67039 -23%
PT Cruiser 13089 0 - 39859 - -
Voyager 4808 7691 -37% 11459 16214 -29%
Town & Country 16141 12259 32% 37443 29189 28%
CHRYSLER TRUCK 34038 19950 71% 88761 45403 95%
CHRYSLER BRAND 51779 46213 12% 140528 112442 25%
Wrangler 5714 8144 -30% 14205 20019 -29%
Cherokee 12765 12514 2% 33894 36143 -6%
Liberty 0 0 - - - -
Grand Cherokee 23025 22758 1% 58445 64442 -9%
JEEP BRAND 41504 43416 -4% 106544 120604 -12%
CP CAR 22535 33490 -33% 65241 87404 -25%
CPJ TRUCK 75542 68620 10% 195645 184046 6%
CPJ DIVISION 98077 102110 -4% 260886 271450 -4%
Neon 10973 12061 -9% 28967 28979 0%
Stratus Sedan 13511 15639 -14% 30648 37287 -18%
Stratus Coupe 2387 0 - 5520 - -
Avenger 0 969 -100% 143 2577 -94%
Intrepid 11083 15977 -31% 31854 45143 -29%
Viper 131 148 -11% 378 376 1%
DODGE CAR 38085 44794 -15% 97510 114362 -15%
Dakota 16315 18213 -10% 38515 44069 -13%
Ram P/U 34035 35444 -4% 86369 95834 -10%
Caravan 27906 37457 -25% 62010 95435 -35%
Durango 13477 14211 -5% 34774 39105 -11%
Ram Wagon 2481 3028 -18% 5514 6375 -14%
Ram Van 4119 5450 -24% 11233 13071 -14%
DODGE TRUCK 98333 113803 -14% 238415 293889 -19%
DODGE DIVISION 136418 158597 -14% 335925 408251 -18%
TOTAL CAR 60620 78284 -23% 162751 201766 -19%
TOTAL TRUCK 173875 182423 -5% 434060 477935 -9%
TOTAL CAR & TRUCK 234495 260707 -10% 596811 679701 -12%
Total Minivan 48855 62661 -22% 111252 158877 -30%
Total Sport Utility 68070 57627 18% 181177 159709 13%
Selling Days 27 27 77 77
