Jeep, once the hottest brand Stellantis' American portfolio, has taken a sales dive since the pandemic and has not yet recovered, from nearly one million in 2019 to a little more than half that in 2024.
A string of CEOs has passed though in the last few years. At the same time the brand known for off-road excellence has also seen a change in regional leadership roles with a new boss and 25-year auto industry veteran Bob Broderdorf taking over North American market responsibilities. He moved from a role as Ram senior vice president in September, succeeding Bill Peffer, who had been in the role for just nine months.
Broderdorf might have the most important job in the American arm of the French company: bringing Jeep back to its glory days.
Jeep's problems partially stem from high transaction prices resulting from fresh strategy after the Fiat Chrysler PSA Group merger in 2021. Newly formed Stellantis was using its limited supplies of parts and semiconductors during the pandemic to build the more expensive versions of its vehicles. That stung traditional buyers and forced them to look at other brands.
New leadership is changing that.
"The leadership [of] John Elkann and Antonio Filosa has been the real deal. They have instilled a level of trust in all of us to quickly make changes and gather people together in a way that has all of us very excited. So, we're going to be aggressive. We're going to come to market with some strategies and some personalities that are back in the building that we're going to have a lot of fun, bringing some really cool cars to market," Broderdorf told Newsweek.
Jeep recently cut prices and added content, starting last September when it put $2,500 worth of stuff (an eight-speed automatic transmission, power door locks and power windows) to its Gladiator pickup, while only raising the price $205 on base models and lowering the price on the Willys trim. It lowered the price of the 2025 Jeep Grand Cherokee, Grand Cherokee L and Grand Wagoneer SUV as well.
Broderdorf says those repositioned vehicles are just coming into dealerships, which helped its December retail sales numbers.
"From period over period, we were up 6 percent in retail. The core cars are starting to grow. The ones that have already experienced the 2025 changes. We're already seeing a nice lift on those cars. Now it's very early. I'm by no means waving the flag, but I can tell you the dealer reaction, the customer reaction, and the philosophy is this simple," said Broderdorf.
Broderdorf says Jeep wants to find the sweet spot of every market segment, from there it can win out with its history.
"People love Jeep for a reason. I just need to make sure that it's affordable versus my competitors, and that's what we're going to do in almost every case. I literally say 'here's the sweet spot. Here's where they're buying that type of car.' Let's pick a flight," he said.
"Jeep has found itself in a place where action needs to be taken immediately to turn perhaps Stellantis's most storied stateside brand around quickly. I think over the years Jeep's lineup has bloated and the brand's image tainted as a result," Robby DeGraff, manager of product and consumer insights at AutoPacific told Newsweek.
"Is it a luxury brand? Is it a brand that sells quality, rugged 4x4s? Is it a brand that provides budget-minded shoppers attractive affordable crossovers touting all-wheel drive/four-wheel drive capability? Does Jeep really need a trio of smaller crossovers below the Grand Cherokee or can that be better suited for the Dodge or even Chrysler brand? Does a full-size six-figure Grand Wagoneer make sense? If Jeep can pause, zoom out, and perhaps look back to when its lineup was much slimmer, with the right product, I think there's a chance for a comeback tour," he said.
Jeep's portfolio does not have what it needs to sell, the company says. About half of the brand's sales decline, according to Jeep, is because it eliminated models and there were not suitable replacements for the audience to stay with the brand when they shopped the next time. Some segment fillers will come back in 2025, including the replacement for Jeep's popular Cherokee SUV.
"That's a massive segment with tons of volume opportunity. And then we will keep adding in cars from there. So look, we're on attack. I want a full breath of utility vehicles. And a huge part of that is growing a brand. You need the entry level to get people into it, so then you can start growing them to become fans down the road, and we move them up. That's the whole life cycle management. It's like auto 101," Borderdorf said.
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