With the new year underway, it's time for car companies to tally the final sales figures for 2014 and see how good (or bad) of a year they had. Jeep should be pleased with its results. It achieved record sales for the third straight year, and sold more than one million vehicles globally for the first time ever.
The 1,017,019 vehicles sold surpassed 2013's total of 731,565 by a staggering 39 percent. U.S. sales also increased 41 percent to a record 692,348 units.
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All Jeep models recorded sales increases both globally and in the U.S., with the Compass, Patriot, and Wrangler achieving record sales in their home market.
Jeep hopes to keep the momentum up in 2015 by focusing more on export markets. It plans to start making vehicles in Brazil, resume making them in China after almost a decade, and launch the 2015 Renegade in more markets—the small size of which should appeal to European buyers.
However, Jeep hasn't quite reached its previously-discussed goal of 1.83 million annual sales by 2018. Announced a few months back as part of parent Fiat Chrysler Automobiles' [NYSE:FCAU] five-year plan, it's intended to put Jeep on track to retake the number-one spot in SUV sales.
As Jeep works to meet that goal, it will also continue to introduce new models, including a next-generation Wrangler that will likely see some significant changes to meet tougher fuel-economy standards. Also in the pipeline are a new compact crossover to replace the Compass and Patriot, and a revived Grand Wagoneer, due in 2018.
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