Chrysler profits soar as Jeep Compass sales rise 566%

Chrysler cars and trucks sold mad crazy last month, up 27% over year-ago numbers and good enough to be the best October for the Auburn Hills, Mich.-based automaker since 2007. Impact players: The Jeep Compass, Dodge Avenger and Chrysler 200 and 300. Sales of the Compass rose an astounding 566%.

“In what is turning out to be a strong new vehicle sales industry, we continued to outperform,” Reid Bigland, president and CEO / Dodge brand and head of U.S. sales, told reporters today.

“For October, our retail sales increased 40% year-over-year with sales of the Chrysler 300 more than doubling and Jeep Compass sales increasing fivefold. The month of October also marked our 19th-consecutive month of year-over-year sales gains.”

In total, Chrysler Group LLC reports U.S. sales of 114,512 for October, up from 90,137 vehicles sold in October 2010.

Models that fueled the sales blitz included the Chrysler 200, a mid-size sedan; the Compass compact SUV and Jeep Liberty mid-size SUV, Dodge Journey crossover, Dodge Avenger mid-size sedan, and Ram pickup truck.

Consumers Digest helped to drive interest in the brand in October by naming several Chryslers 2012 Best Buys. Awarded the important designation in October were the Fiat 500, Chrysler 300 full-size sedan, Chrysler Town & Country and Dodge Grand Caravan minivans, Jeep Grand Cherokee, Ram 1500 pickup truck, Dodge Challenger sports car and Dodge Durango seven-passenger SUV.

Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge, and Ram Truck brands all had sales gains. Chrysler brand did best with a 28% surge, buoyed by a Chrysler 200 405% sales increase. Ram sales brought up the rear with a 21% sales boost.

Jeep sales and Dodge sales both rose 25%. Jeep had its best October since 2006 and its 18th straight month of year-over-year sales gains. It sold 5,179 Compass (pictured) trucks, at 566% higher than before the biggest gain of the month.

Dodge made its gains on the back of the 2012 Dodge Avenger, which posted a 145% sales increase (7,136 cars) over the sale of the 2011 model. The Journey's sales went up 36%.

Chrysler sales also rose in Canada, by 12.4%. It was Chrysler's best October north of the U.S. border since 2002.

Hawke Fracassa covers the auto beat from Detroit. You can reach him at hawkefracassa@aol.com and (248) 747-1550. Follow him on Twitter @HawkeFracassa.

Image source: Jeep