Stellantis has an inventory problem, and it reportedly forced the automaker to temporarily cut Jeep production.
Within the last week, Stellantis opted to curtail Jeep Wrangler and Grand Cherokee production according to sources who spoke to The Wall Street Journal, though the automaker did not disclose a reason for doing so. Take a look across nationwide inventories, though, and the picture gets clearer: There’s a massive amount of brand-new Wranglers and Grand Cherokees for sale right now.
A cursory search across several listing engines showed more than 10,000 examples each of 2024 Wrangler and Grand Cherokee models in need of buyers. Couple the glut of inventory with Stellantis’ weak sales results compared to the rest of the industry — Jeep sales specifically were down 9% year-to-date as of June 30, the last date for which numbers are available, while Wrangler and Grand Cherokee sales were down 9% and 15% respectively — and idling production is perhaps the inevitable result. It’s worth noting, as well, that such a tactic is hardly unique to Jeep or Stellantis, as we do occasionally see production slow down when automakers have just too many vehicles in circulation without enough demand to keep them moving off dealer lots.
A company spokesperson indeed told the WSJ that, “Stellantis continues to take necessary actions to improve operations in the U.S. market. The company will continue to monitor the situation to assess whether further action is needed.” The automaker further confirmed Wrangler and Grand Cherokee production would resume as of this Thursday.
The most recent data indicates multiple Stellantis brands including Jeep, Ram and Dodge are sitting on more than a four-month supply of vehicles, compared to the industry average of 60-70 days. Several reports over the past few months addressing the issue point to high prices, smaller incentives and fierce competition among its rivals as reasons for the oversupply.
As of early September, though, the incentives do look more appealing than what was available over the summer. The prominent deal for a Jeep Grand Cherokee, for example, is a $5,000 bonus cash allowance or 0% APR (for “well-qualified buyers”) on Overland and Summit models, provided you take delivery by September 30. The Wrangler, for its part, offers a smaller $2,000 cash incentive or 0% financing through Stellantis Financial Services. If you walk in set on saving some cash, your local dealer may be willing to put some cash on the hood as well.
