by Matt Konkle
Torque Editor-in-Chief
If you feel like you’ve seen more Wrangler and Gladiator vehicles on the road these days than ever before, well, you are correct.
Stellantis recently reported that Wrangler and Gladiator both had their best first-quarter sales ever, while the newly minted automaker itself saw total U.S. sales jump 5 percent for the first three months of 2021.
“In spite of what started out as a strong start last year, before COVID shocked us all, this quarter was a very strong rebound for retail sales year over year,” said Stellantis U.S. Head of Sales Jeff Kommor. “The consumer demand for our brands and our products was extremely strong throughout the quarter.”
Stellantis, formed earlier this year after Fiat Chrysler and France’s PSA Group agreed to a merger, said it sold a total of 469,651 vehicles during 2021’s first quarter with Jeep leading the way at 197,545 vehicles sold. For Jeep, its growth represented an 8 percent leap over 2020.
Wrangler posted the brand’s best sales jump for the period, climbing 25 percent over the past three months. This follows strong sales to end 2020 when Wrangler had its best fourth-quarter ever to end last year. Overall, Jeep moved 49,646 Wranglers in the first quarter of 2021.
Gladiator performed almost the same as Wrangler, jumping a record 23 percent in vehicles sold over the past three months following best-ever fourth-quarter growth in 2020. Jeep said Gladiator also posted its best monthly sales number ever in March. Jeep moved 18,822 Gladiators in the past three months.
In all, Stellantis said it had a 25 percent increase in retail sales to open this year compared to last year, when then FCA reported a 10 percent drop in vehicles sold as customers began reacting to COVID-related restrictions.
Besides Wrangler and Gladiator, nearly all other Jeep-branded vehicles performed well in the first quarter. Grand Cherokee, like usual, led the way in total Jeep vehicles sold at 55,198 and was up 10 percent, while Cherokee (13 percent) and Renegade (13 percent) were strong as well. Only Compass disappointed as it slumped 33 percent.
While Jeep led the way in total vehicle sales for Stellantis, Ram truck served up a powerful first three months of 2021 and, once again, surpassed Chevy's Silverado in total truck sales for the quarter — jumping 16 percent at 148,836 vehicles moved.
Detroit’s Big 3 all reported sales growth in the first quarter with GM up 4 percent and Ford rising 1 percent. The strong quarterly performance is also excellent news for Stellantis as it tries to position itself for an upcoming battle with Ford for off-road vehicle dominance.
Additionally, the automaker does have numerous new vehicles set to hit showrooms this year, including the Wrangler 392, Wrangler hybrid 4x3, seven-seat Grand Cherokee, Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer, which should keep sales volume moving forward.
The improving industry performance so far in 2021 comes after sales suffered in the latter-half of last March when the pandemic caused state governments to institute stay-at-home orders, shutting down dealerships and auto plants for weeks. When dealers and auto plants started to reopen in May they were met with a surprisingly high consumer demand.
"First-quarter sales are starting off on a strong note. The fact that we're surpassing last year's numbers when the pandemic didn't even hit the industry until the last two weeks of March 2020 is no small feat,” said Jessica Caldwell, senior director of insights at Edmunds, in a release.
