For several years the crossover segment of the SUV market has been led mostly by Jeep models for those of us who want to have the ability to drive off road if we want to. The success of Jeep has been one of the few brands that has carried FCA with profits and continued sales growth. This brand has been the most admired affordable brand for SUVs for a long time and has given us the models we’ve wanted to drive that carry the look that dates back to World War II but advanced features to give the blend of the old and new together.

Now that the September sales are in the Jeep dominance in the market may be in jeopardy of being absorbed by other brands. For the past three years Jeep sales as a whole have been steadily increasing month over month, but for the first time since September of 2013 sales compared to last year of this long lauded brand show a decline compared to the same month last year. This certainly has FCA on pause wondering what they will need to do in order to gain back the sales they are now missing from last month.

To gain a look at what the sales for last month were, we need to see the numbers. The overall decline in sales for Jeep was a total of 2.7 percent less than September of last year. There were only two models in the entire lineup that saw increases over the sales from last year, the Grand Cherokee that went up 18 percent and the Patriot which gained an impressive 33 percent even though the production of the Patriot is about to end and models are on sale to give you some great deals on these models.

When we look at the other models in the lineup we see the Renegade lost 13 percent, the Cherokee dropped 12 percent, and the Compass fell 16 percent and the Wrangler declined by 18 percent. This decline in the lineup suggests that the number of crossovers in the market that we have now has become more appealing to us as consumers with dynamic driving features and the ability to challenge some of the smaller models from Jeep in off road excellence. The models that offer the most challenges for Jeep include the Subaru Crosstrek, Honda HR-V, Chevrolet Trax and Mazda CX-3 all of which saw double digit growth increase last month.

While this is the first month in the past thirty-six to result in a decline for Jeep, the brand is prepared to offer us new models in the upcoming months to ensure we have new Jeep models that will help spurn a new level of increase in the market. These new models include items such as a new Compass which will debut and a Wrangler pickup truck that will give us the first Jeep model that will fit into the pickup lineup, but ride on a Jeep Wrangler platform to be one of the most capable off roaders on the market.