All five Jeep brand models posted a sales increase in July compared with the same month a year ago and all Jeep models currently in production have posted year-over-year sales gains every month this year. July was the brand’s best sales volume month since March 2008 and also its 15th-consecutive month of year-over-year sales gains.

Also contributing to the July sales gain were the Fiat 500, Dodge Durango three-row sport utility, and refreshed Chrysler 200/Sebring mid-size sedan, the star of the Chrysler brand’s award-winning “Born of Fire” Super Bowl commercial, which saw sales more than double (+111 percent). However the 200/Sebring is one of the very few of the facelifted models from either the Chrysler or Dodge brands to gain much traction last month. Chrysler's facelifted flagship 300 series finally edged into positive territory year-on-year (+6 percent) while the ambitiously repositioned and refreshed Town & Country continues to lose ground (-20 percent).

“In a market that remains tougher than a cheap steak, we were able to produce our highest retail sales in more than three years,” Reid Bigland, President and CEO – Dodge Brand and Head of U.S. Sales, said in somewhat curious language to be used in a prepared written statement. “I think that statistic is the ultimate testament to the progress we have made with our product in the areas of fuel economy, quality and design.”

The Chrysler (+5 percent), Jeep (+46 percent), and Dodge (+9 percent) brands each posted year-over-year sales gains in July, while the Fiat brand registered a 68 percent increase compared with the previous month of June 2011. More than five thousand sales for the new Durango SUV helped mask bigger problems for the Dodge brand, the group's volume leader, as all its other models, bar the Caliber (+14 percent), lost ground. The unloved Caliber however is most likely to have been boosted by fleet or discounting to make such gains. Customers shunned the refreshed Avenger (-2 percent), Charger (-11 percent), Journey (-9 percent) and Caravan (-16 percent). The Challenger (-5 percent) also fell.

Ram meanwhile ended the month flat; year-to-date sales at the truck brand are however up by more than a quarter. Chrysler Group meanwhile finished the month with a 72-day supply of inventory (308,880 units). U.S. industry sales figures for July are projected at an estimated 12.4 million SAAR.