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The factory continues to tease us....


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This article was just posted today at www.allpar.com telling of a dealer meeting showing upcoming vehicles. Pay special attention to the LAST paragraph.

 

 

 

http://www.allpar.com/news/index.php/20 ... to-dealers

 

Two Allpar readers at the national dealer meeting reported on the cars shown:

 

The big news is the new Dodge Viper, driven in to the amazement of everyone there. It is apparently a big styling change and people raved about it. The looks are more upscale, and word is that the product committee took just five minutes to unanimously approve the car.

 

The Chrysler 300 was shown, and is as beautiful as they claim. They claim to have spent $1 billion dollars on the development and used the BMW 5-series (starting at $44,000) as a benchmark. The interior is incredibly impressive, with hand-sanded wood accents. With the optional eight-speed automatic, it can get 30 mpg.

 

The Chrysler 200 looks good overall and is a vast improvement over the Sebring. The pillars are all that remain the same. With the six-speed dual-clutch automatic, engineered by both Chrysler and Fiat (both had dual-clutch designs at the time of the deal), it reportedly hits 29 mpg. The Chrysler 200 will see showrooms in November.

 

The minivan looks even better in person, and the interior is truly impressive especially on the Limited. The Dodge Caravan has also been greatly improved inside, with a sportier exterior; the suspension has reportedly been tuned for a more sporty feel (as in years before 2008), and the “man van” has been confirmed as a limited edition version.

 

The Dodge Challenger V6 is rated at 305 horsepower, (as at least one other web site reported). The 6.4 liter Hemi will be called the 392, as previously reported

 

The Dodge Charger was shown and it is a vast improvement, especially the interior.

 

The Ram 3500 Longhorn package was impressive in luxury and had a badge in the floor mat that could be worn as a belt buckle. It will appear at the Texas State Fair soon. The Ram 2500 and 3500 will have RamBox optional next year.

 

The new Dodge Journey was shown, with one of the best looking interiors there; even Ralph Gilles was gushing about it.

 

Dodge Avenger, is an Avenger. New powertrain, basically, with most of the changes going into the Chrysler 200.

 

They showed the new small Dodge pickup truck (possibly still called Dakota).

 

Jeep Compass really does look like a baby Grand Cherokee.

 

At the end of the Jeep show, Mike Manley started to leave but (in a Steve Jobs-like move) a door opened and a Jeep pickup truck drove in. It was similar to the Jeep Gladiator concept, big tire on the side and all. Manley shrugged, said, “Hey, you never know,” and walked off.

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The guy who posted that could've atleast used a picture of the newer Military J8 (or whatever they're calling it), instead of blowing the dust off a 6+ year old factory teaser pic.

 

It would be nice if he was right (offering a 2012 Jeep Truck to *celebrate* the 20th anniversary of killing them off in 92'),

but if he had info like that, you'd think he'd know where to find pics of the modern (military) version they are already making.

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I don't understand Jeep. They are well known for building 4x4's, its what they do. What is one of the most versatile 4x4 platforms around?? The pickup truck. Pickup trucks have been used for work, play, family, industry etc. for many years in this country and around the world. So my question then, is why would a company who already has the know-how to build a decent mid-sized truck, who could use mostly off the shelf parts, and for which there is a potential for a sales gold-mine, totally ignore this segment?? Jeep builds SUV's, which are trucks ( mostly ) so why not build the most obvious version of a truck as well? Not like Chrysler couldn't use the positive press and the " brand new" image it would create. Makes no sense if you ask me.

The only possible explanation is that pickups are still viewed by some as utiliterian. Jeep must think that since they don't have broad enough appeal to the masses, there is simply no need. After all, where does "work" or "do things" fit into the new slogan " I live, I ride, I am" ?? Sadly, this is what jeep has become. They think another 4dr. SUV is what the market needs.... :shake: The sad part is that jeep products ( when they were cooler and had substance ) are what made people buy into "the look". Now Jeep will sell you only " the look". The people who have a need for substance probably will start to look elsewhere.

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Jeep made pickup trucks for almost 50 years (1947-1992), so they shouldn't need us to point out the pickup's absence over the last 19 years. :(

 

 

It's sad too, since Jeep mainstreamed the 4x4 pickup in the first place,

then was the first to go luxury on trucks in the 1970's

(almost all the Waggy's luxo options were available in the J10/20's,

try to find a non-Jeep 1970's P/U with A/C, full time 4wd, auto, pow windows/locks, etc etc).

 

Their biggest problem was brand loyalty in this market (try to get a 'Chevy Truck guy', or a 'Ford Truck guy' to buy a 'Brand X' pickup),

 

and later,

the lack of an extended cab P/U.

 

In the end regular cab trucks were viewed as cheepo, baseline, entry level, etc.

Try selling a regular cab P/U with $5,000 worth of luxurious, price driving extra's tacked on.

 

The third thing that seems to have turned Jeep off of P/U's was the poor sales of Scramblers.

 

But you can't look at those numbers without looking what happened 10 years after they stopped making them,

EVERYONE wanted them, and the price of even rotted out throwaway Scramblers went through the roof.

 

 

 

 

My view is all of the above (brand loyalty, no extended cab, a history of poor sales)

could've been turned around if they wanted to invest in the market.

I see tons of Full Size Toyota Pickup's out there now,

no one thought that they could ever crack that market (full size = where the $$$ & American brand loyalty is).

 

 

Jeep, lets go,

putting a V8 in the JK, and making a 1/2 cab version available would be a good start.

Do it for crying out loud.

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I'd buy an ugly @$$ Dakota or even a Tacoma or Frontier before I'd buy that.

 

The only people that are gonna buy that truck are the same ones that buy Hummers and H-2's. A redesigned/modernized Comanche or a truck based off of the Commander, Grand Cherokee or even a Liberty would be more appealing than a glorified Wrangler with a bed.

If that was their intention, they would have been better off not glorifying it as much by offering the Scrambler again. Then they could have included a newly designed Comanche. I think both would sell.

Oh well, if this is what their gonna drop in us after 24 years none of this will really matter. I think they'll be short lived and discontinued due to the lack of sales never to see a Jeep truck again. What a waste of what could have been. :(

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The guy who posted that could've atleast used a picture of the newer Military J8 (or whatever they're calling it), instead of blowing the dust off a 6+ year old factory teaser pic.

 

It would be nice if he was right (offering a 2012 Jeep Truck to *celebrate* the 20th anniversary of killing them off in 92'),

but if he had info like that, you'd think he'd know where to find pics of the modern (military) version they are already making.

Here ya go ........

http://www.motorauthority.com/image/100 ... y-wrangler

http://news.pickuptrucks.com/2009/04/ae ... uyers.html

http://www.allpar.com/SUVs/jeep/J8.html

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I don't understand Jeep. They are well known for building 4x4's, its what they do. What is one of the most versatile 4x4 platforms around?? The pickup truck. Pickup trucks have been used for work, play, family, industry etc. for many years in this country and around the world. So my question then, is why would a company who already has the know-how to build a decent mid-sized truck, who could use mostly off the shelf parts, and for which there is a potential for a sales gold-mine, totally ignore this segment?? Jeep builds SUV's, which are trucks ( mostly ) so why not build the most obvious version of a truck as well? Not like Chrysler couldn't use the positive press and the " brand new" image it would create. Makes no sense if you ask me.

The only possible explanation is that pickups are still viewed by some as utiliterian. Jeep must think that since they don't have broad enough appeal to the masses, there is simply no need. After all, where does "work" or "do things" fit into the new slogan " I live, I ride, I am" ?? Sadly, this is what jeep has become. They think another 4dr. SUV is what the market needs.... :shake: The sad part is that jeep products ( when they were cooler and had substance ) are what made people buy into "the look". Now Jeep will sell you only " the look". The people who have a need for substance probably will start to look elsewhere.

 

 

not hard to understand whats up.. Jeep is owned by Dodge and they want to sell dodge trucks not jeep trucks thats why they stoped making them in the first place...

 

they already make the j8 so they are not going to make anything for us just face it... Chrly sucks............ if they made a truck for us it would suck anyway so its better they don't.

Lets face it.. they go on and on how they are not making money. I think thats a crack of crap ola. they are being paid rolyilts for the comanies around the world that make jeeps without jeep names, they have other companies they make money off of... they don't care about what people want in a jeep.

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