The Jeep brand’s top SUV only sold 88 units in 2009 in the Asian country, but the company is expecting to shift as many as 500 to 1,000 units in 2011, according to a statement made by Chrysler Japan President Toshiyuki Shimegi. If that is achieved, it would mean that Chrysler’s sales in japan would be lifted above 3000 units, from just 2,350 last year, according to Automotive News.
In 2010, sales of the Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep brands rose 15 percent in Japan. The result was helped partly by Tokyo’s scrap incentive, which sparked a demand of the Jeep Patriot. At the end of 2010, the Patriot ended up selling 760 units, making it Chrysler’s best-selling model in Japan.
“Most of our investors need to be convinced we have the product. That’s been difficult over the past couple years,” Alessandro Saita, general manager for marketing, said of his dealers.
The 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee is already on sale in the US, available in three variants: Laredo, Limited and Overland. The 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo 4×2 model starts at $30,995 (JPY2.5 million), while the all-wheel drive variant starts at $32,995 (JPY2.7 million).
Meanwhile, prices for the 2011 Grand Cherokee Limited 4×4 start at $39,995 (JPY3.3 million), while the Overland 4×4 model will set customers back $42,995 (JPY3.5 million). All models are powered by a 3.6L Pentastar V6 unit making 290-hp while the 360-hp 5.7L V8 is an optional extra.
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