Chrysler Posts September Sales
1 October 1998
Chrysler Corporation September Sales Up 18 Percent; Company Sets All-Time Model Year RecordAUBURN HILLS, Mich., Oct. 1 -- Chrysler Corporation had its best model year ever, with 2.45 million vehicles sold in the U.S., including third-quarter volume that jumped 8 percent ahead of last year and September sales that were up 18 percent from a year ago. "It's a continuing endorsement of Chrysler's innovative lineup of cars, trucks, minivans and Jeep(R) vehicles," said James Holden, Executive Vice- President of Sales and Marketing. "We set 13 model year sales records in model year 1998, including new watermarks for the Dodge Division, Dodge Truck, sport utility vehicles, Dodge Dakota, Dodge Ram, Dodge Stratus, Plymouth Breeze, Plymouth Prowler and Chrysler Sebring Coupe," Holden said. Total sales for Chrysler's model year -- October 1, 1997 through September 30, 1998 -- were 2,446,951, breaking the company's previous model year record, set in 1996, of 2,407,700 million vehicles. Total truck sales of 1,723,798 million were up 11 percent over last year, contributing to the best model year ever for company trucks. Chrysler sold 723,153 passenger cars during the past model year. The model year tally for sport-utility vehicles was 590,759, a 24 percent increase over the previous model year. The previous volume record for SUVs of 489,436 was set in 1996. Total U.S. sales for September were 194,390, an 18 percent increase over last year. It was the best September in the company's history for truck sales, which totaled 131,559, a 17 percent jump from last year. The new record bested the previous September truck high mark, set in 1996, of 125,791 units. Sales of passenger cars in September were also up to 62,831, a 22 percent jump over the same month last year. Eleven sales records were set in September, including monthly sales high marks for the Dodge Durango, the Dodge Intrepid, the Chrysler Concorde and for the Jeep(R) Wrangler. Chrysler U.S. Sales Summary, Thru September 1998 Month Sales DR % Sales CYTD DR % Sales MYTD DR % Model Curr Pr Change Curr Pr Change Curr Pr Change Yr Yr Yr Yr Yr Yr Neon 6778 7831 -13% 62541 64836 -4% 84503 84441 0% Breeze 4190 5696 -26% 48409 51986 -7% 68922 67990 1% Prowler 117 15 NM 1158 28 NM 1250 28 NM PLYMOUTH CAR 11085 13542 -18% 112108 116850 -4% 154675 152459 1% Voyager 10241 9698 6% 123448 122762 1% 156742 156285 0% PLYMOUTH TRUCK 10241 9698 6% 123448 122762 1% 156742 156285 0% PLYMOUTH BRAND 21326 23240 -8% 235556 239612 -2% 311417 308744 1% Cirrus 2769 2549 9% 30368 21988 38% 39929 28446 40% Sebring Coupe 2771 2867 -3% 27263 27772 -2% 34856 33836 3% Sebring Convertible 3292 3437 -4% 41493 43261 -4% 51286 55594 -8% Concorde 5559 2531 120% 48687 35198 38% 52261 46851 12% 300M 4059 0 0% 16972 0 0% 16972 0 0% LHS 2230 779 186% 10869 28421 -62% 12637 36821 -66% CHRYSLER CAR 20680 12163 70% 175652 156640 12% 207941 201548 3% Town & Country 5323 5672 -6% 54901 56790 -3% 74764 75631 -1% CHRYSLER TRUCK 5323 5672 -6% 54901 56790 -3% 74764 75631 -1% CHRYSLER BRAND 26003 17835 46% 230553 213430 8% 282705 277179 2% Wrangler 7060 5820 21% 64712 64570 0% 82098 84270 -3% Cherokee 14347 10480 37% 107338 93593 15% 143786 124949 15% Grand Cherokee 11283 23722 -52% 166255 188652 -12% 238478 267609 -11% JEEP BRAND 32690 40022 -18% 338305 346815 -2% 464362 476828 -3% Talon 78 704 -89% 2808 8209 -66% 4805 10551 -54% Vision 0 213 -100% 501 4635 -89% 1012 6391 -84% EAGLE BRAND 78 917 -91% 3309 12844 -74% 5817 16942 -66% CPJE CAR 31843 26622 20% 291069 286334 2% 368433 370949 -1% CPJE TRUCK 48254 55392 -13% 516654 526367 -2% 695868 708744 -2% CPJE DIVISION 80097 82014 -2% 807723 812701 -1% 1064301 1079693 -1% Neon 9892 9850 0% 94496 90061 5% 126289 116651 8% Stratus 6757 7392 -9% 87241 73429 19% 112852 96065 17% Avenger 2176 2636 -17% 19636 26007 -24% 25572 31714 -19% Intrepid 12071 5023 140% 76532 106390 -28% 88679 137175 -35% Viper 92 90 2% 974 1104 -12% 1328 1687 -21% DODGE CAR 30988 24991 24% 278879 296991 -6% 354720 383292 -7% Caravan 17954 16938 6% 227709 222241 2% 291204 289733 1% Durango 13111 0 0% 106134 0 0% 126397 0 0% Dakota 12436 10318 21% 115790 97006 19% 150745 125236 20% Ram P/U 34780 25988 34% 298952 254251 18% 394958 350037 13% Ram Wagon 899 859 5% 14028 16363 -14% 15037 20845 -28% Ram Van 4125 3286 26% 39280 45779 -14% 49589 61321 -19% DODGE TRUCK 83305 57389 45% 801893 635640 26% 1027930 847172 21% DODGE DIVISION 114293 82380 39% 1080772 932631 16% 1382650 1230464 12% TOTAL CAR 62831 51613 22% 569948 583325 -2% 723153 754241 -4% TOTAL TRUCK 131559 112781 17% 1318547 1162007 13% 1723798 1555916 11% TOTAL CAR & TRUCK 194390 164394 18% 1888495 1745332 8% 2446951 2310157 6% Total Minivan 33518 32308 4% 406058 401793 1% 522710 521649 0% Total Sport Utility 45801 40022 14% 444439 346815 28% 590759 476828 24% Selling Days 25 25 230 230 307 307