FCA is moving production of the Jeep Cherokee from Ohio to Illinois as part of its production overhaul.
After a long run up in sales, Jeep sales in the United States will probably be flat or down slightly this years as Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V. pulls back from sales to rental car fleet and moves through a series of new product launches that require closing key plants for model changes.
However, Mike Manley, head of Jeep Brand, also said that the Jeep brand could still post a modest sales increase in Europe, China and South America, particularly in Brazil.
In China, for example, sales of Jeep branded vehicles increased by 131% last years to more than 147,000 vehicles. Manley said he expects another big increase in Jeep sales in China this year since it will have three different vehicles, the Cherokee, the Renegade and the new Compass, available for Chinese customers. Jeep will also have the capacity to build 350,000 units in China and could build more as demand increases.
FCA and its Chinese partners are also preparing a new vehicle in China that is being designed specifically to appeal to Chinese customers.
Meanwhile, Jeep is launching the new Compass from plants in Mexico, India and Brazil as well as China, making it a truly global vehicle. “We sold nearly 1 million vehicles in NAFTA last year,” Manley said, but the growth outside North America continues to lift the brand’s sales totals.
(FCA laying off 3,200 in Toledo as plant transformation begins. Click Here for the story.)
The new Jeep Compass is expected to be a big seller not only in the U.S., but in China and Brazil too.
Jeep, however, is not neglecting its home market. FCA is re-tooling plants in Belvidere, Illinois, and Toledo, Ohio, to produce new versions of the Jeep Cherokee and the Jeep Wrangler.
Manley said FCA may not use an auto show to introduce the much-anticipated Jeep Wrangler. “It will be too early for New York and too late for Los Angeles. So we’re thinking of a one off,” he said.
(Click Here for more about FCA’s Jeep manufacturing plans.)
Manley once again confirmed that FCA is committed to building a pick-up truck off the platform on which will utilize the same basic architecture as the new Wrangler. But the Jeep pickup isn’t expected to appear until 2019, he said. Manley also said FCA still has settled on a name for the new pickup.
The Jeep Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer are also expected to debut in 2019 when FCA finishes the re-tooling of an assembly plant in Warren, Michigan, which is needed to build Ram pickup trucks through 2017. The changeover to the Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer won’t begin until the next generation of the Ram pick is rolling off the re-tooled assembly line in Sterling Heights, Michigan, Manley said.
(To see more about Marchionne pushing for an FCA manufacturing revival, Click Here.)
The next generation Ram is scheduled to go on sale in the first quarter of 2018, Manley noted.