Chrysler Sales Tumble 42 Percent In June

Chrysler Sales Tumble 42 Percent In June

But, like Ford, Chrysler is talking retail. As in Chrysler increased ?retail market share more than 1 percentage point compared with June

2008.? Actually retail sales declined 16 percent, and combined with a 95 percent drop in fleet sales (despite selling nearly 3k vehicles to the feds in a single go), Chrysler?s overall sales are down 42 percent compared to June 2008. When sales were off 36 percent year-on-year. Talk about bad to worse.

The only good news? Chrysler has managed to control its inventories. With only a 71-day supply of vehicles, ChryCo dealer lots are 56 percent less crowded than they were a year ago. But that?s as good as it gets.

PT Cruiser and Sebring were down 82 and 66 percent respectively. Both (theoretically) mass-market nameplates are currently selling under 2,000 units per month. In fact, Town & Country is the only Chrysler-badged vehicle with sales over 2k units. Of course it?s slumping as well, down

27 percent at 7,187.

Jeep results are usually buoyed by the Wrangler, which had a better 2008 than just about any Chrysler model. But sunny days aren?t keeping the Wrangler moving; its sales declined 28 percent to 4,810. Compass, Patriot, Commander and Grand Cherokee all saw year-on-year drops in the

40-70 percent range, while the Liberty stayed relatively strong at 3,815 units sold.

Things are even worse for the Dodge brand. Take out the Challenger (+35 percent, 1,369 units), Ram (-10 percent) and Journey (-26 percent) and there?s not a single nameplate that declined less than 42 percent. Selling 369 Durangos a month is no way to emerge from bankruptcy. But with several nameplates selling over 2,000 units per month, at least Dodge is beating Chrysler?s eponymous badge.