Jeep plots course for multiplied market share

Jeep’s commitment to reviving the seven-slot grille glory days in Australia appears to be paying dividends, with rebounding sales and recovering customer satisfaction, and the once mighty brand has set its sights on some ambitious targets for the future.

By the end of 2019, Jeep sales were languishing after five years of decline, just over 5500 vehicles sold and 0.5 per cent of the overall market, but the tide appears to have turned with more than 2100 Jeeps finding driveways to the end of April 2022.

Promising trends are, in part, attributed to the ‘COVID-effect’ and the phenomenal demand experienced by almost all brands during the pandemic, but the company says those figures could have been even more positive if it weren’t for the semiconductor shortage that’s severely restricting production throughout the industry.

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Jeep Australia's managing director, Kevin Flynn, told WhichCar the numbers are a sign that a progressive three-part strategy it initiated in 2019 is taking effect, but registrations of any brand do not paint the full picture while the industry is in turmoil.

“I would argue they [sales] are more representing boat arrivals and production availability rather than anything else,” he said. “That’s frustrating … but it’s not stopping the orders and we’re still on plan.

“We ended the quarter [Q1 2022] with not one single wholesaleable vehicle in our stock. This month we had an objective we wanted to fulfill and that is completely based on what’s built, shipped and will arrive. It’s not about share – that’s irrelevant at the moment.”

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But while the company’s focus is not on market share until there is considerable “easing” of the production constraints – hopefully at the end of the year – Flynn revealed he has grand plans to grow and exceed Jeep’s previous presence in Australia.

“Looking at what’s coming and the plans we’re making, my first step is four [per cent]”.

Flynn would not reveal in what timeframe the goal would be achieved, but if the company can pull it off, Jeep will grow from its current 0.6 per cent share into an operation similar in size to Nissan or Volkswagen.

It’s not without precedent. With an aggressive market integration strategy, previously impotent brand MG has successfully penetrated the Australian market and now enjoys almost 5.0 per cent of overall sales, but while the Chinese brand has succeeded through a range of affordable SUVs, Jeep’s approach is different.

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When Flynn took the top job at Jeep nearly three years ago, he immediately set about touring the country and meeting the dealers to establish what was wrong and how to fix it. From that, the team took a “consistent messaging” plan to the global board and the three-part strategy was given the green light for launch in February 2020.

Part-one was 'apology', says Flynn, followed by ‘affirmation’ of the company’s intentions in part two. “Now we’re moving into ‘promise’. We’ve got all of those things that we said we would change packaged – and you can rely on it”.

Key to the growth is product, says Flynn, and with the arrival of the Compass in 2018, the new JL Wrangler and its ute cousin Gladiator after that, and now the all-new Grand Cherokee, the transformative product onslaught is well underway, but it’s just the start.

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Over the next few years, Jeep will introduce a consistent stream of fresh metal including a plug-in hybrid version of its Grand Cherokee alongside more conventional versions of its models, while continuing to sure-up its dealer network and constantly monitor customer satisfaction with everything from an improved digital experience to mystery shoppers in dealerships.

With a more free-flowing production path on the horizon and the challenges of the pandemic hopefully behind, Flynn is looking forward to demonstrating exactly what the brand is capable of.

“I still feel we’re in a position where next year we can start talking about what do we want to look like and what do we want to be, and how that is going to be delivered”.