September 2014 New Auto Sales: Chrysler Up 19% As Buyers Flock To Jeep Cherokee, Ram Pickup

Chrysler Group LLC said Wednesday it sold 169,890 vehicles in the United States last month, a 19 percent increase from September 2013, as consumers flocked to the Jeep Cherokee, Dodge Ram pickup truck and the all-new Chrysler 200 sedan.

“Chrysler Group sales continue to demonstrate strength as we recorded our seventh month of double-digit growth this year,” Reid Bigland, the company’s U.S. sales chief, said in announcing the numbers.

Most automakers will release their U.S. sales data throughout the day Wednesday. New motor vehicle sales are a key indicator of U.S. consumer confidence. Analysts expect the world’s Big 8 automakers to see a 9 percent rise in sales compared to September 2013.

Chrysler Group is now in its 54th consecutive month of sales growth five years after the Auburn Hills, Michigan, automaker’s government-administered bankruptcy.

Jeep brand sales are up 47 percent as buyers drove off with the redesigned 2014 Jeep Cherokee, currently the most popular model in the group. Jeep Wrangler sales grew 16 percent to 13,995, making it the second-most popular new Jeep model in the U.S. The recently redesigned and introduced 2015 Chrysler 200 midsize sedan pushed sales up 15 percent to nearly 11,000 cars last month. Sales of Chrysler’s most popular vehicle, the Ram pickup, leaped 30 percent to 36,612 units.

Chrysler is set on Oct. 13 to return to the New York Stock Exchange as part of its merger with Italian automaker Fiat SpA. The new company, Fiat-Chrysler Automobiles, will be the world’s seventh-largest automaker by sales volume.

Here’s a recent review of the new Chrysler 300S from MotorWeek, which says you need the 300SRT for “true high performance.”