FCA Projects 2019 JL Sales Down from 2018

[Litfuse]

You’re selling a 1 year old Jeep?
You might be in too close of a competition with a dealership. Dealers are usually just a couple thousand more than private sales and far more convenient when it comes to financing and trade ins.
It’s also winter and most people haven’t got their tax returns yet.

I appreciate you giving me credit for owning a vehicle for a year. Actually, I have had it for six months. Competition is right. High supply and low demand right now. It will pick up next month I bet.

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[Majestic]

Budget, Avis, Hertz, Enterprise, etc

I usually see rental Wranglers at vacation hotspots like beach towns and stuff. There are far more cheaper and comfortable rental options if somebody just wants to go on a business trip. Either way you’re usually talking about stripped down sports as a opposed to limited editions or upper trim levels. No way in hell I’d buy a rental Wrangler. Talk about a rough life.

 

[SecondTJ]

I usually see rental Wranglers at vacation hotspots like beach towns and stuff. There are far more cheaper and comfortable rental options if somebody just wants to go on a business trip. Either way you’re usually talking about stripped down sports as a opposed to limited editions or upper trim levels. No way in hell I’d buy a rental Wrangler. Talk about a rough life.

Not always, the only Wrangler I ever rented was actually a Sahara.

To be fair, there were 2 Sports sitting next to it. They let me choose, main reason I took the Sahara was because it was optioned with the LED's

 

[Pig-Pen]

I was the cool kid in town with my JL for a while. Im starting to see them quite a bit now. Some already really modded.
By next year they’ll be everywhere here. Its not uncommon to see three JKs sitting in a group of cars waiting at a light. They are everywhere here.

On my block, of the 5 houses in a row, three have wranglers. My JL and two JKs. One JK is a soccer moms sahara snd the other JK is a well modded sport

Cant wait to start seeing JTs. Im sure those will be a hit here in so cal. Raptors sell here like theyre rangers

 

[MOPAR Boy]

Don't fight it, guys, the future is electric, whether we like it, or not. OAC will become President as soon as she is age eligible. And trust me, she and her green friends will work hard to kill off non-electrics ASAP. Sucks, but it's just the hard, cold reality of the new Millennial world.

As to JL sales, I would think that many, many buyers are like me, in that while we had previously planned to get a new JL, once we realized the Gladiator is no longer vaporware, Boom! No more Wranglers for us. Certainly this phenomenon will substantially impact (e.g., reduce) Wrangler sales. By how much? Who knows...

 

[KDB]

Don't fight it, guys, the future is electric, whether we like it, or not. OAC will become President as soon as she is age eligible. And trust me, she and her green friends will work hard to kill off non-electrics ASAP. Sucks, but it's just the hard, cold reality of the new Millennial world.

As to JL sales, I would think that many, many buyers are like me, in that while we had previously planned to get a new JL, once we realized the Gladiator is no longer vaporware, Boom! No more Wranglers for us. Certainly this phenomenon will substantially impact (e.g., reduce) Wrangler sales. By how much? Who knows...

I have never had an electric vehicle so really do not have any baseline to make comments but as long as they can give me a wrangler that meets the following I would think that I would accept it:

· doesn't weigh more than my 3.6 JLR

· just as roomy inside

· same clearance as current 3.6 JLR

· can go on a 3-5 thousand mile trek across the US without having to stop for more than 15 minutes to recharge

· doesn't self-combust

Not saying anything about HP or torque above as my understanding is that electrics have more torque than gas combustible engines.

EDIT, would also want the batteries are covered for at life of vehicle

 

[whiskeytower]

I can say for sure price is what kept me out of a brand new JL. While we have looked and visited with other car dealers, they all seem to be overpriced and have inflated inventories. The jeep dealers around me have what seem to the whole lots full of JL's and still JK's. The salesman actually told me "hell im in the car business and I'm upside down, everyone is upside down" Needless to say we did not trade in the wifes car for anything. Still would love to pick up a Jeep for summertime fun with the wife but we are leaning towards a TJ or JK.

 

[droadrunner]

When you see the prices of all the new Trucks just brought to market like the new Ford Ranger ,or any convertible , the top end ones with a turbo 4 at 45K ,the JL I bought does not look to bad , and I like the proven Penstar 6 , I did go looking for a JK or JL and the JK was a lot less but after driving them both I spent the extra $.

 

[Indio]

I too have my doubts about the PHEV Wrangler, but for different reasons. I don't think most EV buyers are doing it for the environment, they're doing it because EVs are a kick in the pants to drive (OK, not all of them, but many), they do actually reduce fuel costs significantly for most people, and refueling at your house on a daily basis instead of stopping for gas is really convenient. It's like having your own gas station without all the danger and the stink.

That said, I don't think the Wrangler is a good choice for a PHEV, because a) it's a brick, and EV range will be limited, b) off-roading will beat the crap out of the EV components and break them, and c) a heavy EV battery is going to hamper off-road performance.

I recall 20 or so years ago, a company converted an old Series 88 Land Rover to electric. At the time using old school lead-acid batteries - not the sort of tech we have now. There was an article about it, and basically off-road the electric version beat out the gasoline version. Due to the electric torque advantage and not having to worry about idle or where in the band the torque came in.

The down side - they had to tow the electric Land Rover to the test site (recall it was Moab but don't quote me). Until we get greater range out of electric, it will not be good for exploring any distance off-road unless close to home. But I would definitely be down for an electric Jeep when they get the battery situation sorted out.

Actually I'm down right now for an urban all-electric, if they can get the vehicle cost lowered to around 20 grand. (An all-electric commuter car would probably take care of 75% of my family daily driving living in an urban area where range is not an issue.)

Here is a photo I found of the electric Series 88 Land Rover, but I was not able to find the original shoot-out comparison article.

 

[SkymasterPilot]

Wow how is electricity generated, I know a small amount is by water, but most is coal or gas or nuclear

 

[Majestic]

How did this turn into an electric vehicle thread?

 

[SecondTJ]

As to JL sales, I would think that many, many buyers are like me, in that while we had previously planned to get a new JL, once we realized the Gladiator is no longer vaporware, Boom! No more Wranglers for us. Certainly this phenomenon will substantially impact (e.g., reduce) Wrangler sales. By how much? Who knows...

Jeep CEO Mike Manley said, "We looked and tried to do as much work as possible to see if we felt that there would be large percentages of substitution between the two vehicles. In our plans, we’re expecting somewhere in the order of 10 to 15 percent."

https://carbuzz.com/news/jeep-predicts-wranglers-owners-will-switch-to-gladiator

 

[ramp4ge]

It probably has to do with the sticker shock. The JL's not "brand new never seen one shiny" anymore so people don't want to pay outrageous prices to be the first with a new generation of Jeep..

I was at the dealer today getting some maintenance done on my JK and I was wandering around looking at the JLs. $36,000 MSRP for base model + hardtop..

That is outrageous. The base MSRP on those same units was $29,000. For a base 2-door JL.

That's crazy. That's Rubicon money for a base 2-door.

 

[Jcsieman]

Except there was no "first year spike" for JL demand. It's initial sales were poor relative to JK.

FCA reported 240,000 Wrangler sales last year. They built 99,000 JK's for 2018.

That means JL sales were comparable to JK sales of 150k/yr from 2012-13, and not 2014-17 when they were selling almost 200k/yr.

FCA dropped the ball with the JL price hike. They were able to hide behind JK sales for 2018, but 2019 will be all JL. They've also tripled JL fleet sales to try and keep the sales numbers "up"

How many of those 99,000 Jk sales would have been JL sales but for the $3k discounted JK option?

 

[Litfuse]

I can say for sure price is what kept me out of a brand new JL. While we have looked and visited with other car dealers, they all seem to be overpriced and have inflated inventories. The jeep dealers around me have what seem to the whole lots full of JL's and still JK's. The salesman actually told me "hell im in the car business and I'm upside down, everyone is upside down" Needless to say we did not trade in the wifes car for anything. Still would love to pick up a Jeep for summertime fun with the wife but we are leaning towards a TJ or JK.

If you can wait, I would pick up a used JK next winter. I bet JK prices are going to fall considerably with how FCA is ruining the residual value on the JL. Clean TJs will continue to hold their value.

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