Jeep aims to make a comeback in the U.S. after years of sales troubles

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — Jeep is betting that Americans still like a good comeback story.

It’s a mantra that echoes throughout the quintessential SUV brand, from its CEO to its marketing campaign with LL Cool J, following years of declining sales and market share that have hurt Jeep and its parent company. Stellantis.

“This isn’t just a comeback. This is the Jeep brand taking back the segment we invented and defined,” Jeep CEO Bob Broderdorf said at a recent media event.

Despite being responsible for the brand’s famous off-road capabilities for most of the past century, Jeep has fallen into a rut over the past decade. The company has experienced six consecutive years of declining U.S. sales due to a carousel of leadership, a lack of new products and the failure of a premium pricing strategy to increase profits.

But now the coveted SUV brand is in the midst of its biggest mainstream product assault in a decade, having rebalanced prices across its lineup and posting its best quarterly sales in more than two years.

“We’re going to grow and grow and grow,” Broderdorf told CNBC while sitting in a redesigned 2026 Jeep Grand Wagoneer at the company’s Design Dome outside Detroit. “That’s the mission. And do it in a healthy way.”

The redesigned Grand Wagoneer represents the brand’s struggles and comeback attempts. Jeep’s foray into luxury cars topped $111,000 fully loaded in 2021, but it’s relatively expensive and overcomplicated compared to its peers, and has had some production and quality issues.

The redesigned model lineup is cheaper, simpler, and better positioned against other U.S. large SUVs than foreign competitors such as Land Rover. Production problems were also alleviated.

“We confused the buyers. We confused the dealers,” Broderdorf said at a media event. “I’m here to let you know that we received your message. We’re currently fixing it.”

But in the automotive world, some things take longer to repair than others. The brand’s sales are still far below expectations, and Jeep’s overall quality issues remain ongoing even after realigning its vehicles and pricing strategy.

“This is one area where we need to improve. We have improved, but the evidence is still there,” Broderdorf told CNBC.

Among 32 major auto brands, Jeep ranked last last year in Consumer Reports’ annual rating, which combines road test scores, safety ratings, predicted reliability and owner satisfaction data.

Just recently, the company announced a recall of more than 320,000 plug-in hybrid Wranglers and Jeep Grand Cherokees due to fire hazards. The company filed a recall with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration late last month, but no relief measures have been announced yet.

The company said a solution, including a software update to the vehicle’s high-voltage battery pack control module, is planned for December to improve diagnostic capabilities for early detection of internal battery damage.

The recall comes at an inopportune time for Jeep to launch the Recon, an all-electric SUV inspired by the Wrangler. The vehicle is scheduled to be unveiled this week ahead of the Los Angeles Auto Show after first debuting as a concept car in 2021.

Recon was initially hailed as a key to the Jeep brand’s future, with executives saying it would help the brand become a leader in all-electric vehicle sales, including advance plans to achieve 50% of EV sales in the U.S. by 2030.

But hopes were tempered by Stellantis’ appointment of a new CEO and a slowdown in demand for EVs amid regulatory changes, including the end of federal incentives of up to $7,500 for plug-in electric vehicle purchases in September.

Broderdorf said the end of federal incentives is expected to impact sales across the industry, including Recon, but the new SUV will serve as an EV “bookend” in the Jeep brand’s electric portfolio alongside the sportier Wagoneer S.

“I’m not just chasing volume,” he said on a recent media call. “I want to sell cars the right way. [battery-electric vehicle]scouts, we want to make sure we’re there for them. After that it doesn’t really matter to me. ”

The Recon is built at Stellantis’ Toluca assembly plant in Mexico, along with the Wagoneer S, Jeep Compass, and the new Jeep Cherokee, which is offered only as a hybrid.

Broderdorf, who began leading the brand in February, said the factory could easily be adjusted to produce larger quantities of the Compass and Cherokee in response to EV demand. Both gas-powered vehicles will be produced in the United States in the coming years for added flexibility.

Several automakers reported sharp declines in EV sales in October as federal incentives ended and the Trump administration eliminated fuel economy and emissions penalties, but EVs offset that.

Jeep has released few details about the Recon other than that it will be a “sibling” to Jeep’s iconic off-road, open-air SUV, the Wrangler. Jeep previously touted a small concept version that could go from 0 to 60 mph in about 2 seconds.

The Recon will be the last of four new vehicles Jeep will introduce within the next four months. It started with the important new Cherokee SUV, followed by the latest versions of the Jeep Grand Cherokee and Grand Wagoneer.

Until the launch of last year’s Jeep Wagoneer S and the next Recon, Jeep focused on selling electrified plug-in hybrid electric versions of its Wrangler and Grand Cherokee, rather than all-electric vehicles.

Part of Jeep’s “comeback” includes an aggressive new marketing and advertising campaign featuring actor and musician LL Cool J, and a lewd ad campaign for the Jeep Grand Wagoneer featuring comedian Eliza Schlesinger.

The campaign, which Jeep’s new vice president of marketing and communications Wendy Ausman has been leading since June, aligns with Broderdorf’s comeback slogan, including featuring LL Cool J’s “Mama Knock You Out.”

“Don’t call it a comeback. I’ve been here for years,” the iconic rapper and actor says in a song featured in the ad campaign, calling Jeep the “original influencer.”

Although the marketing and advertising efforts have been effective, industry officials said the most important thing for the company remains new products, especially the Jeep Cherokee, which competes in the popular small/midsize SUV market.

“They’re still trying to solve problems and get the pricing and products right,” said Stephanie Brinley, associate director of autointelligence at S&P Global Mobility. “But there’s a lot of potential, especially with Cherokee coming back. There’s still a lot going on in the pipeline, and I think that puts them in a good spot.”

The company discontinued the previous Cherokee model and Renegade small SUV in 2023 amid pressure on profits under former CEO Carlos Tavares.

Through the third quarter of this year, Jeep’s sales increased less than 0.5% from the same period last year. Jeep’s U.S. market share has fallen from 5.4% in 2019 to 3.7% from 2024 onwards, according to Cox Automotive.

Jeep is dealing with a spiraling sales decline that began after the brand’s SUV sales hit a record high of more than 973,000 units in 2018. The brand’s U.S. sales last year have since fallen 40% to fewer than 590,000 units.

Despite plummeting sales, Jeep’s average transaction price (ATP) will be around $54,000 from 2023 to 2024, well above the industry average of less than $48,500 for the same period, according to Cox Automotive.

Jeep’s ATP through the third quarter of this year was less than $49,800, Cox said. This is still a premium over the industry average of $48,588, but much lower than last year.

One thing that hasn’t decreased for Jeep this year is inventory levels, according to Cox Automotive. Jeep’s supply days in October were 146 days, the highest of any major brand other than Ford’s Lincoln. Cox reported that the industry average for days of supply, which calculates the number of days a dealer has inventory based on recent sales, was 88 days.

“Looking at mainstream brands, recent inventory trends reveal that some manufacturers may be heading into overstock territory as consumer demand shifts,” Cox Automotive executive analyst Erin Keating said in a Thursday blog post, citing Jeep in particular.

Jeep’s revival plan began with Stellantis CEO Antonio Filosa, who previously led the brand. Under Broderdorf, the team accelerated with support from Filosa.

“They’re fixing the problems, so it’s not like 2026 is going to be a million-unit year. Once you get off track, it might take a little while to get back on track, but it starts with the product,” Brinley said. “And that’s coming in 2026.”