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Chrysler Sales Up 6%; Company Recalls 284,000 Dodge Chargers
Year over year, sales rose 6% at Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V. (FCAU) in July to 178,027 units, the company’s best July sales level since 2005. The Jeep brand posted a sales gain of 23% year over year for the brand’s best-ever July total. Jeep Patriot sales rose 22%, the all-new Renegade posted a sales gain of 30% and Grand Cherokee sales rose 5%.
Analysts at Kelley Blue Book (KBB) had projected July sales at 175,000 and Edmunds had projected about 180,000 units.
On Saturday, Chrysler said it is recalling 284,153 four-door Dodge Chargers built between May 2010 and June 2014 for a defect that could lead side air-bag curtains and seat air-bags to open unexpectedly, raising the risk of crash and injury. The company said it was aware of three minor injuries and no accidents attributable to the defect.
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On July 27, Chrysler agreed to pay a $105 million fine and to initiate a plan to fix the way the company dealt with 23 separate recalls to fix problems with more than 11 million vehicles.
The company’s Jeep brand sold 73,216 units in July. Jeep has now set a sales record for 22 consecutive months. The company’s Jeep Renegade sold 6,320 units, up 30% month over month. April was the model’s first full month of availability.
Ram pickup sales rose 1% again in July to 38,157 units, after posting a 1% year-over-year sales increase in June. Last year, Ram sold 37,699 pickups in July. For the year to date, Ram pickup sales are up 4% to 248,738 units, and total brand sales are up 7% to 269,103 units. Ram pickups had their best July sales in 10 years.
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Year over year, sales of the company’s Chrysler brand are up 19%, as sales of the new Chrysler 200 rose 85% year over year in July to 15,108 units, on top of a 153% year-over-year gain in June. Year to date, Chrysler 200 sales are up 128% and Chrysler brand sales are up 19%.
The company’s Dodge brand sales were down 13% year over year in July and are now down 16% for the year to date. The bright spot for the brand came in sales of its Challenger, up 20% to 5,151 units. Sales of the venerable Caravan dropped 20% in July and are down 45% for the year.
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Chrysler projected a seasonally adjusted annual rate of sales in the United States from all manufacturers at 17.8 million units for 2015, higher than last month’s projection of 17.5 million. The company ended the month with 82 days supply of inventory, up from 78 days of supply at the end of June.
Chrysler’s shares traded higher by about 2.5% early Monday to $16.19. The current 52-week trading range is $8.54 to $17.08.
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