Fiat Chrysler Shuns Cars `No One Wants' as SUVs Spur a Sales Win

Jeep surge ends 18-month-long streak of U.S. delivery declines
Hackett to emulate Marchionne by dumping cars for crossovers

The 2019 Jeep Cherokee SUV.
Photographer: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg

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By David Welch and Keith Naughton

April 3, 2018 at 1:06 PM UTC

Updated on

April 3, 2018 at 7:33 PM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV sold more vehicles to regular U.S. consumers than Ford Motor Co. last month, a rare victory that shows the strength of America’s SUV boom.

Soaring deliveries of Jeep sport utility vehicles -- including a more than sixfold jump for the redesigned Compass model -- carried Fiat Chrysler to a 14 percent surge in total March sales. The automaker topped crosstown rival Ford when excluding shipments to rental-car companies and other fleet customers for the second time since 2010.