In 2014, for the third consecutive year, Jeep® set a record for global sales. It’s also the fifth consecutive year that Jeep sales have increased in the U.S. and globally.
The highlights from their release:
- Jeep global vehicle sales increase 39 percent in 2014 to all-time annual record of 1,017,019 units
- U.S. sales increase 41 percent to a record 692,348 units
- Jeep Compass, Patriot and Wrangler record best-ever U.S. sales
Jeep vehicle sales were led globally and in the U.S. by Grand Cherokee (279,567 global; 183,786 U.S.), Cherokee (236,289 global; 178,508 U.S.), Wrangler (234,579 global; 175,328 U.S.), Compass (134,629 global; 61,264 U.S.), and Patriot (122,387 global; 93,462 U.S.).
It’s interesting to us that the U.S. sales of the Grand, Cherokee, and Wrangler are so similar. Particularly interesting that the Cherokee was very nearly #1 in U.S. sales in its first year. Also, it’s not a record year for the Grand Cherokee, sales erosion from the new Cherokee, perhaps?
Less surprising, total sales of the Compass and Patriot combined in the U.S. are more than 11% lower than the Wrangler. They may be record sales for each, but 2016 and the end of these two models can’t get here fast enough for us.
But let’s look at the positives. It’s one thing to read that 
175,000+ Wranglers were sold, but let’s put some perspective on that. The CJ-5 was produced from 1954-1983, 29 years. In that span, just more than of 600,000 were produced. More than any other CJ model by a long shot. That’s only 3.4 years at the current sales rate for the JKs.
Of course there’s more people now and more cars on the road in general, but in From the Big Freek in our current issue, we talked about how the future for Jeep fans is looking awfully bright. These numbers are precisely where were we were coming from. More JKs being produced, with more being used for light grocery-getter duty, means we’re going to be wading neck-deep in very solid used JKs in a few years. It may take a little longer for them to get into that “sweet spot” price point for most ordinary folks looking to build crazy off-road rigs or adding a third vehicle as a fun weekend toy, but we all know they’ll get there eventually. When they do… game on!
It gets interesting in 2015 with the addition of the Renegade into the mix. While purists lump it in with the Patriot and Compass as “not Jeeps” our readers have seen that we have been impressed in our initial looks at the new subcompact SUV, even naming it to our top 15 Jeeps at SEMA this year. It’s a new segment for Jeep entirely and we’re excited to see what it does when we get our hands on one.
Then there’s the Compass/Patriot replacement and the return of the Grand Wagoneer to look forward to.
It’s a very good time to be a Freek…