By comparison Chrysler Group sales in November 2010 were just 74,152 units which made it an unusually slow month (although up on November 2009) and accounts for some of the 45 percent sales jump seen last month.

Chrysler Group’s big sales increase last month was driven by retail sales, that the carmaker said, were up 51 percent year-on-year. November was the sixth-consecutive month of sales gains of at least 20 percent. For the tenth month this year, Chrysler Group sales have also beaten the average industry sales increase.

“With sales up 45 percent, November was another huge month for the Chrysler Group and our highest year-over-year sales gain of 2011,” said Reid Bigland, President and CEO – Dodge Brand and Head of U.S. Sales. “In addition to having eight Chrysler Group models recognized as Consumers Digest automotive ‘Best Buys’ for the 2012 model year, we also have picked up countless other vehicle awards this year which clearly are reflected in our sales success.”

The Fiat brand was in fact the only negative story for the Chrysler Group for month just gone as the Italian brand's sales slumped even further. After peaking at just over three thousand units in July (3,038) and August (3,106), sales of the 500 slipped down to 2,733 units in September and 1,965 units in October. Last month, as Fiat faced the full glare of the disastrous product endorsement by actress and singer Jennifer Lopez and all the knock-on brand damage, sales slipped even further, to just 1,618 units. With 120 dealers on stream now, Fiat, which had originally, optimistically targeted, selling 5,000 of the superminis a month, cannot keep blaming the lack of a broader dealer network for the car's sales troubles, although a positive ray of hope is the arrival of the 500 Abarth version which may offer some short-term respite.

Much more positively for Chrysler Group, the facelifted Chrysler 300 and Dodge Charger full-size sedans have now finally found their feet after struggling to attract customers for most of the year, and 4,066 and 5,099 sales respectively last month, means they both played their part in the carmaker's November sales rise. The facelifted Chrysler 200/Sebring breached the eight thousand units barrier last month to continue its solid momentum and drive the Chrysler brand forward to a 92 percent year-on-year jump, the best result within the group, while all the Jeep division's models ploughed ahead, led in year-on-year terms by the Compass which saw sales its rise 887 percent to 4,262 units.

Chrysler Group finished the month with a 78-day supply of inventory (333,218 units). U.S. industry sales figures for November are projected at an estimated 13.8 million SAAR.