Chrysler will drop the slow-selling Jeep Commander in mid-2009. That’s the word from insiders who asked not to be named because the decision has not been officially announced. The cancellation is blamed on high gas prices and changing consumer buying patterns which have significantly reduced demand for large SUVs.
Introduced in 2005, Commander sales hit a peak of 88,497 in 2006, its first full year on the market, but dropped to 63,027 units last year. At the pace set in the first quarter of 2008, annual sales are forecast to be about 36,000 units.
While it is unusual for a model to be axed before its first production cycle is completed, sources say Chrysler didn’t realize the market for large SUV’s would contract as quickly as it has or that it would take so many sales from the Jeep Grand Cherokee. Company executives at the former DaimlerChrysler had believed the Commander, which is larger than the Grand Cherokee, would take sales from, or at least keep potential customers from migrating to, other full-size SUVs like the Ford Expedition and Chevrolet Suburban.
Cancellation of the Commander makes it the fifth model to be cut from Chrysler’s lineup since Cerberus purchased the automaker from Daimler AG last year. Chrysler President James Press has already said the company has twice as many SUV models as it needs.
*quoted from Allpar
Introduced in 2005, Commander sales hit a peak of 88,497 in 2006, its first full year on the market, but dropped to 63,027 units last year. At the pace set in the first quarter of 2008, annual sales are forecast to be about 36,000 units.
While it is unusual for a model to be axed before its first production cycle is completed, sources say Chrysler didn’t realize the market for large SUV’s would contract as quickly as it has or that it would take so many sales from the Jeep Grand Cherokee. Company executives at the former DaimlerChrysler had believed the Commander, which is larger than the Grand Cherokee, would take sales from, or at least keep potential customers from migrating to, other full-size SUVs like the Ford Expedition and Chevrolet Suburban.
Cancellation of the Commander makes it the fifth model to be cut from Chrysler’s lineup since Cerberus purchased the automaker from Daimler AG last year. Chrysler President James Press has already said the company has twice as many SUV models as it needs.
*quoted from Allpar
Attachments
Last edited:
