Since November 2013, it’s been setting sales records. Every month for a total of 33 consecutive months of year-over-year sales gains.
In June, four Jeep models – the Wrangler, Patriot, Compass, and Renegade – set records of their own. All of them had their best June sales ever. The Wrangler’s June sales shot up by five percent relative to the same month last year to 20,060 units. Dealers moved 99 percent more Renegades and 128 percent more Compasses than they did in June 2015. Despite the fact that the Cherokee took a 12-percent dip, Jeep as a whole had its best June in company history and sold 83,691 vehicles – a 17-percent increase.
Jeep’s year-to-date sales are up by the same percentage, even though the Wrangler and Cherokee are down by the low single digits. Those red numbers are more than balanced out by the black figures of the Compass, which is up by 80 percent so far, and the Renegade, which is up by 262 percent. They might be baby Jeeps, but lately they’re big cogs in the Jeep machine.
Derek Shiekhi's father raised him on cars. As a boy, Derek accompanied his dad as he bought classics such as post-WWII GM trucks and early Ford Mustang convertibles.
After loving cars for years and getting a bachelor's degree in Business Management, Derek decided to get an associate degree in journalism. His networking put him in contact with the editor of the Austin-American Statesman newspaper, who hired him to write freelance about automotive culture and events in Austin, Texas in 2013. One particular story led to him getting a certificate for learning the foundations of road racing.
While watching TV with his parents one fateful evening, he saw a commercial that changed his life. In it, Jeep touted the Wrangler as the Texas Auto Writers Association's "SUV of Texas." Derek knew he had to join the organization if he was going to advance as an automotive writer. He joined the Texas Auto Writers Association (TAWA) in 2014 and was fortunate to meet several nice people who connected him to the representatives of several automakers and the people who could give him access to press vehicles (the first one he ever got the keys to was a Lexus LX 570). He's now a regular at TAWA's two main events: the Texas Auto Roundup in the spring and the Texas Truck Rodeo in the fall.
Over the past several years, Derek has learned how to drive off-road in various four-wheel-drive SUVs (he even camped out for two nights in a Land Rover), and driven around various tracks in hot hatches, muscle cars, and exotics. Several of his pieces, including his article about the 2015 Ford F-150 being crowned TAWA's 2014 "Truck of Texas" and his review of the Alfa Romeo 4C Spider, have won awards in TAWA's annual Excellence in Craft Competition. Last year, his JK Forum profile of Wagonmaster, a business that restores Jeep Wagoneers, won prizes in TAWA’s signature writing contest and its pickup- and SUV-focused Texas Truck Invitational.
