Jeep Wrangler Sales Tank, Ford Mustang Sales Soar—What’s Going On?
Jeep dealer inventory issues are so bad the company paused production.
A tale of two enthusiast vehicles, both popular overall, both having very different moments right now. The Ford Mustang is doing great, up 55 percent in August and nearly 18 percent YTD. The Jeep Wrangler, the evergreen off-road SUV? Not so good. It’s down 17 percent, tracking a fairly dismal August result for Stellantis’ U.S. brands as a whole. Jeep overall is down 19 percent, joining Ram and Chrysler in the red.
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Wrangler sales are so bad that, per a Wall Street Journal report, the company idled the Toledo, Ohio plant that makes it. (Production resumed yesterday after “adjustments” to its operations.) And the Grand Cherokee, produced in Detroit, similarly had a production stoppage. This comes as Jeeps are piling up on dealer lots, a result of “higher prices and fewer promotions than from rivals.” According to Cox Automotive, Jeep has a roughly four-month supply of vehicles on dealers’ lots, compared to the 68-day average. Should the trend continue, it seems like Jeep will need to trim prices and throw cash on hoods to move Wranglers and other Jeeps—something to keep an eye on if you’re in the market for one of its SUVs.
Meanwhile, over in Dearborn, the Mustang—its sole car left—is having a great month. Partly that’s due to the Mustang’s natural appeal. The S650-generation coupe and convertible are still very fresh; this generation was only introduced for the 2024 model year. There’s still a traditional, powerful V-8 available, and new high-profile and high-performance variants like the ultra-exclusive GTD and the powerful Dark Horse. But some of the Mustang’s success is because of a diminished cadre of rivals.
For one, the Dodge Challenger is dead, the last ones built in December of last year, and so what’s selling is leftover production. Stellantis moved 11,480 Challys in August, down 11 percent, and the numbers will naturally dwindle. The upcoming Charger Daytona coupe and sedan won’t be 1:1 competitors with the Mustang, offering either turbo I-6 or electric power.
And of course, the Chevrolet Camaro is also dead, the last one also having been produced in December 2023. (It was a ZL1/1LE, by the way, not a bad way to end the run.) Less competition gives the last pony car standing more room to run free, and clearly the Mustang is taking advantage. It’ll be interesting to see if the Charger Daytona cuts into the Mustang’s growing sports car market share, and by how much.
Like a lot of the other staffers here, Alex Kierstein took the hard way to get to car writing. Although he always loved cars, he wasn’t sure a career in automotive media could possibly pan out. So, after an undergraduate degree in English at the University of Washington, he headed to law school. To be clear, it sucked. After a lot of false starts, and with little else to lose, he got a job at Turn 10 Studios supporting the Forza 4 and Forza Horizon 1 launches. The friendships made there led to a job at a major automotive publication in Michigan, and after a few years to MotorTrend. He lives in the Seattle area with a small but scruffy fleet of great vehicles, including a V-8 4Runner and a C5 Corvette, and he also dabbles in scruffy vintage watches and film cameras.
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