"...Chrysler has to move on from having emotional attachments to the vehicles in its lineup. Translation: if it's not selling, it's not staying."


Just a thought, but given this statement in the context of the Commander outselling the Durango, it's entirely possible that Bob Nardelli intends to keep the Commander and drop another vehicle that's not selling well. Like he said... no emotional attachments; just cold, hard sales figures.

Not to say that the Durango would go, but if the Commander is selling well (even if it's lower than their desired mark) they'd do well to keep it. Axing the Commander doesn't automatically mean that those sales will transfer to the Durango's numbers.

I think the Aspen will definitely be dropped though. Not soon enough for me; I don't know why would anyone want a Durango with such an ugly hood on it anyway...

It suggested once that maybe Jeep would drop the Commander and now this rumor shows up all over the Internet. Everything posted here speculation until someone from Chrysler actually makes an official statement. To Kill the Commander would leave a gaping 7 seater hole in the Jeep lineup, I don't see this happening.

Chryco is currently working on the next gen Durnago/Grand Cherokee/Chyrsler SUV, it's not on the Dakota platforum, unless they make the Dakota not a BOF truck (oops, I've said too much already, hee-hee). The Aspen name will probably go buh-bye.

Commander is gone after ... 2010.

The Pacifica is gone soon too.

Now for my personal conjecturing... I don't see the Liberty (what the rest of the world knows as the Cherokee) going away anytime soon. The 2008's are due out soon, so it's got at least another 5 years of life. Jeep needs a midsize SUV though. I don't think the smaller crossover Patriot would fit the mark. But who knows what the market will look like 5 years from now...

Compass needs to go if for not other reason than branding strategy. Keep the Patriot though, but try to raise the suspension just a little bit, at least to the height of things like the Rav4, CRV, and Escape. Proportionally, right now the Patriot looks lowered.

THIS IS NOT AN OFFICIAL WORD!!!

This is only from some analysts unresearching mind.

The Durango sales are suffering more than the Commander. As of September 01, 2007 the sales to date:

Aspen: 18,593 (3,599 In August)
Durango: 34,661 (3,284 In August)
Commander: 45,615 (5,890 In August... Third In The Jeep Lineup, Only Behind The Wrangler And Grand Cherokee)

The Commander was originally (at the time when SUVs were still selling like hotcakes) targeted to sell 70,000 units/year. At the current rate, it will come less than 2,000 units shy of that by the end of the year.

The Liberty has just been redesigned. The Liberty and the Patriot are not similarly sized. The new Liberty is closer to the Grand Cherokee. By the way, the Compass is selling well (albeit being the girly Jeep thats barely a Jeep). If it is axed from the lineup then it is merely a branding strategy.

More likely to happen... is that Dodge exits the SUV market to focus on pickups, crossovers, and performance cars; Chrysler focuses on luxury sedans and minivans, Jeep focuses on SUVs. The Grand Cherokee is redesigned (and possibly renamed) to a vehicle bearing many of the agressive, sporty front-end cues found on the Trailhawk concept. The Commander grows a little bit in size and gains -- through the existing Chrysler / Mercedes powertrain technology agreement -- the diesel hybrid technology that was just unveiled on the Mercedes S-Class at Frankfurt. The Liberty stays as it is provided the new model continues to sell well. The Wrangler introduces new engine options to keep things fresh. The Liberty and Patriot get special trim levels mid-model generation to keep things fresh.

I agree with him a 100%. The heyday of the SUV is done.