A gain in Jeep Wrangler sales over last year--a surprising 28.2%, given Chrysler's collapse--is also due to the strength of the Jeep brand.

"Of all the vehicles individually within the Chrysler lineup, I think this is probably the vehicle that has the strongest brand identity," Schuster says. "The Wrangler is Jeep. That helps. I think on top of that, they had a very strong incentive program in February ... that kind of gave that vehicle a nice lift."