Despite five consecutive years of declining sales and forecasts of a sixth negative year in 2024, Jeep is optimistic about the future. CEO Antonio Filosa believes that the worst days are behind them and that the goal of 1 million annual sales in the United States is still achievable. The company is implementing a restructuring plan that, according to Filosa, is already showing signs of improvement after a 9% drop in US sales in the first six months of 2024.
Jeep CEO Antonio Filosa has a plan to revive the Stellantis brand
The plan includes lowering prices across its range, including high-volume models like the Jeep Compass and Grand Cherokee SUVs, implementing special offers such as incentives or 0% financing, and increasing spending on marketing and advertising, Filosa stated. It will also include an upcoming roadshow with dealers to address further issues and concerns.
During an interview, Filosa said: “The actions we have implemented in previous months are already producing sales growth even in the United States.” His comments were made a day before the president of the Stellantis National Dealer Council sent a highly critical open letter to CEO Carlos Tavares, denouncing sales losses and other bad business decisions.
Filosa stated that Jeep, which reports sales quarterly, saw an increase in US sales last month: they rose 28% compared to August 2023 and 55% compared to July. Jeep also reduced its vehicle inventory by about 25,000 units during that period. But the brand still has a long way to go to achieve a notable turnaround in sales.
Jeep‘s US sales have plummeted 34%, from a record high of over 973,000 units in 2018 to less than 643,000 units last year. While most car brands increased sales last year, Jeep fell by about 6%. Recent declines in Jeep sales are attributed to the discontinuation, last year, of the base model Renegade and the compact SUV Cherokee, two models that had sold about 300,000 units annually in the US between 2016 and 2019. Filosa commented: “For Jeep, losing Cherokee and Renegade was a hard blow. Our market coverage dropped from 80% to 45%.”
Filosa stated that Jeep plans to regain market share “very quickly” and restore 80% coverage by the end of next year. This goal will be supported by the introduction of a replacement for the Cherokee and new electrified models.