With what will likely turn out to be a brief decline in utility vehicles at the Ford Motor Company, sales of SUVs and crossovers at the Chrysler Group were stronger in November 2013 than they were at Ford and Lincoln.
How'd they do it? The Dodge Durango's 36% increase – its lowest year-over-year improvement since May – was basically cancelled out by the Dodge Journey's 22% slide. But at Jeep, where sales had been down 2% through the first ten months of 2013, the new Cherokee's long-awaited first full month on the market helped to power a 30% brand-wide jump.
It wasn't all down to the Cherokee, and it's not as though every Ford utility vehicle posted decreases. (Flex up 29%!) With 9% and 14% improvements from the Grand Cherokee and Wrangler, respectively, Jeep's two top sellers accounted for 58% of the brand's November sales. Indeed, compared with the same period one year earlier, sales of every Jeep model except the defunct Liberty increased in November 2013.
The Cherokee's 10,169 sales created quite a buzz when figures were released on Tuesday, however, as many an observer forgot that Jeep had delayed the model's showroom debut because of quality issues, thereby enabling a greater stockpile of Cherokees than there normally would be at this stage of a launch. Or perhaps it's just that desirable: could the Cherokee fly in the face of conventional wisdom and sell in this manner on a routine basis?
It was America's 11th-best-selling SUV/CUV in November, and in part because of its early success, SUVs and crossovers were responsible for 39% of the Chrysler Group's volume, up from 37% a year ago.
Five different Detroit brand utility vehicles sold more often than the Cherokee in November, including the two Jeeps already mentioned. The Ford Escape, America's second-ranked utility vehicle, attracts 40% of Ford/Lincoln SUV buyers. Escape sales rose only slightly in November but are up 13% year-to-date, easily exceeding both the market's growth and the better-selling Honda CR-V's rate of ascent.
In the U.S., Ford currently relies on SUVs and crossovers for 29% of its sales, a little less than at this time last year. That's not because their sales have fallen – utility vehicle sales at FoMoCo are up 9% in 2013. Simply put, sales of Ford MoCo cars are growing at a slightly faster clip than sales of utility vehicles, and the F-Series' rapid rise shows that Ford really knows how to shake its money maker.
The biggest seller of SUVs in America is General Motors. From 14 nameplates, GM sold 75,999 SUVs and crossovers in November; 855,018 year-to-date. The 16% growth rate (both in November and year-to-date) is virtually twice what the overall auto industry has accomplished this year. Even with the one new Buick Encore introduction excluded, GM utility vehicle sales are up 12% in 2013, as improvement has been seen from every nameplate except the Cadillacs. The SRX continues to be America's second-best-selling premium brand utility vehicle, although the Acura MDX is surging ever closer and the SRX is some 40,000 sales back of the Lexus RX.
Depending how you define the two terms – SUV and crossover – there are around 90 different nameplates available in the utility vehicle arena going into 2014. They generate 30% of the American auto industry's volume. And of the 4.3 million SUVs and crossovers sold already this year, 48% come from GM, Ford, and Chrysler, down a percentage point from their market share a year ago.
| Auto | November 2013 | November 2012 | % Change | 10 mos. 2013 | 10 mos. 2012 | % Change |
| Buick Enclave | 4687 | 4817 | - 2.7% | 55,715 | 50,651 | + 10.0% |
| Buick Encore | 2663 | — | — | 29,195 | — | — |
| Cadillac Escalade (SWB) | 1100 | 960 | + 14.6% | 11,122 | 11,244 | - 1.1% |
| Cadillac Escalade ESV | 651 | 693 | - 6.1% | 7175 | 7156 | + 0.3% |
| Cadillac SRX | 4823 | 5340 | - 9.7% | 50,702 | 51,085 | - 0.7% |
| Chevrolet Captiva Sport | 4476 | 3672 | + 21.9% | 44,966 | 34,228 | + 31.4% |
| Chevrolet Equinox | 18,397 | 16,821 | + 9.4% | 220,980 | 199,070 | + 11.0% |
| Chevrolet Suburban | 5212 | 4705 | + 10.8% | 45,440 | 42,160 | + 7.8% |
| Chevrolet Tahoe | 7272 | 5895 | + 23.4% | 74,856 | 60,302 | + 24.1% |
| Chevrolet Traverse | 6889 | 5697 | + 20.9% | 88,665 | 78,176 | + 13.4% |
| Dodge Durango | 5581 | 4091 | + 36.4% | 55,351 | 37,373 | + 48.1% |
| Dodge Journey | 5155 | 6569 | - 21.5% | 76,317 | 71,875 | + 6.2% |
| Dodge Nitro | — | — | — | — | 3269 | - 100% |
| Ford Edge | 8761 | 10,142 | - 13.6% | 117,031 | 115,535 | + 1.3% |
| Ford Escape | 20,988 | 20,970 | + 0.1% | 271,531 | 240,877 | + 12.7% |
| Ford Expedition | 3492 | 2831 | + 23.3% | 34,025 | 34,001 | + 0.1% |
| Ford Explorer | 14,268 | 14,940 | - 4.5% | 175,490 | 146,963 | + 19.4% |
| Ford Flex | 2125 | 1648 | + 28.9% | 23,575 | 26,052 | - 9.5% |
| GMC Acadia | 7566 | 3631 | + 108% | 81,870 | 73,101 | + 12.0% |
| GMC Terrain | 6821 | 8158 | - 16.4% | 91,527 | 86,270 | + 6.1% |
| GMC Yukon | 2777 | 2438 | + 13.9% | 24,705 | 23,876 | + 3.5% |
| GMC Yukon XL | 2665 | 2535 | + 5.1% | 28,100 | 20,498 | + 37.1% |
| Jeep Cherokee | 10,169 | — | — | 10,748 | — | — |
| Jeep Compass | 3547 | 2715 | + 30.6% | 49,459 | 37,104 | + 33.3% |
| Jeep Grand Cherokee | 14,798 | 13,619 | + 8.7% | 157,758 | 137,613 | + 14.6% |
| Jeep Liberty | — | 4202 | - 100% | 6101 | 71,975 | - 91.5% |
| Jeep Patriot | 5148 | 4174 | + 23.3% | 69,639 | 57,444 | + 21.2% |
| Jeep Wrangler | 11,753 | 10,337 | + 13.7% | 143,474 | 130,124 | + 10.3% |
| Lincoln MKT | 431 | 537 | - 19.7% | 5416 | 6441 | - 15.9% |
| Lincoln MKX | 1946 | 2108 | - 7.7% | 21,366 | 22,490 | - 5.0% |
| Lincoln Navigator | 762 | 675 | + 12.9% | 7671 | 7289 | + 5.2% |
| — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Total | 184,923 | 164,920 | + 12.1% | 2,079,970 | 1,884,242 | + 10.4% |
from The Truth About Cars http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com
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