 Liberty's Demographics
Posted by mike on 2001/10/13 23:00:00 (348) reads
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The Toledo Blade, the hometown newspaper for the Jeep Liberty's assembly plant in Toledo, Ohio, recently published an article about what demographics are buying the Liberty. The results are a bit surprising... Average Jeep Liberty buyers are a tad older, are slightly more likely to be women, and make about $17,000 more annually than those who bought Liberty's long-lived predecessor, the Jeep Cherokee.
Still, the top reasons customers bought both Toledo-made compact sport-utility vehicles are the same: The SUVs are American-made, have four-wheel drive, and are off-road capable.
Such were the findings of initial customer surveys by DaimlerChrysler AG.
The average Liberty buyer makes $71,000 a year and is 41 years old, and half of the buyers are women, according to about 300 surveys returned from some of the first Liberty buyers in May and June.
Plus, fewer than 10 percent of Liberty buyers reported having quality problems, surveys found. The all-new Jeep came in first in overall satisfaction when compared with the Cherokee and seven competitors, including the Toyota RAV4, Honda CR-V, and Ford Escape, said Michael Kane, director of Jeep global brand marketing.
"We're very pleased. It's almost as if we manufactured the results ourselves, but we didn't," he said. "We're actually quite surprised the [average] income was so high."
The Liberty is attracting "individualists" and what the automaker calls "yams," or young, affluent males, Mr. Kane said. The Liberty's design has proven to be important to buyers, he said.
"The Liberty buyer has been more concerned with styling," said Ralph Mahalak, Jr., sales manager at Monroe Dodge Chrysler Jeep. "The Cherokee buyer was just concerned with payment and capability."
About 5 percent of Cherokee buyers were off-road enthusiasts, 20 percent appreciated Jeep's off-road prowess, and the rest found it was an inexpensive way to get into the Toledo-born brand, Mr. Kane said.
It's too early to tell what the long-term demographics for the Liberty will be, especially because incentives are not being offered, said Dave Doster, Jeep sales manager for Sylvania Township's Yark Automotive Group.
Payments drive a lot of auto sales, and low lease payments, for example, helped the Cherokee and attracted younger buyers, Mr. Doster said.
Demographics are likely to look different for the Liberty next year, Jeep's Mr. Kane said. Toledo Jeep Assembly will begin making the cheaper 4-cylinder Liberty Sport models next month.
...snip... Be sure to check out the entire article for more info...
Reader Reactions
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| Anonymous |
Posted: 1969/12/31 18:00 Updated: 1969/12/31 18:00 |
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 Originally posted by: XJKen Demographics, market research or whatever else you want to call it, can be skewed to mean what ever reader want it to mean. I am sure GM did the same
market research with the Pontiac Aztec and yet they built it anyway. The one
line in this article that bugs me the most is the one that states, "The Liberty
buyer is more concerned with styling, The Cherokee owner was mostly concerned with price and capability ! ". While price was my number one concern
styling was a very close second. The Cherokee looks great even 18 years after
it was introduced, it is truly a classic design. I bet that most Cherokee owners
would agree. I do not care how low you make the payments, if its ugly its not
going to sell in the kind of numbers that the Cherokee generated in 1998 and
1999. I have had several people at work ask me what I think of the Liberty, and the first thing I tell them is thats it no Cherokee. This usually opens the
discussion in futher detail in which I try to be fair and unbiased. The conversation usually ends with me telling them that I prefer the Cherokee, and
I plan on keeping it for a long time. One of the car magazines had agreat line
about the Cherokee in one of its comparison test. They said "If you drive a
Cherokee no one's going to accuse you of being a wus ." I don't think the
same can be said about the Liberty.
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| Anonymous |
Posted: 1969/12/31 18:00 Updated: 1969/12/31 18:00 |
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Originally posted by: Utah That could very well be the reason, but it seems kind of lame to me. I am no engineer, but could they not just have held production up on the Cherokee, untill the mods were complete and then introduced it as a next generation Cherokee, or something like that?
This is just speculation....but I really believe that they were afraid that the sales of the Liberty would be seriously hurt if the Cherokee were to be still available. DC is so desperate to make the Liberty a success in the Cute Ute/Affordable SUV sector, they axed the Cherokee....leaving consumers only one Compact/Affordable SUV Jeep to choose.
So what have they accomplished? They gained new customers at the expense of many....loyal....Jeep supporters.
I drive a 2000 Cherokee. I will replace it in 3 years. I will never be caught dead in a fruity looking Liberty ( I even hate the name ). I can't afford a Grand Cherokee ( hey I can barely afford the Cherokee ), so in 3 years I will be buying something else other than Jeep. Not because I want to....but because they will have nothing to offer me. I am sure that I am not alone in feeling this way.
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| Anonymous |
Posted: 1969/12/31 18:00 Updated: 1969/12/31 18:00 |
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Originally posted by: 9jeeps I would say the Libery stats around Toledo are probably accurate enough. They appear to fall in line with what I've seen here in the Northwest. To the regular jeeper tho the Liberty is a girly car. Also with all that extra weight your not going to see too many of them behind a motorhome going to jeep ralleys. This is where the wrangler and the cherokee have proven themselves over the years. Jeep has made some bummer looking cars throughout their history. I wonder if this will turn out the same?
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| Anonymous |
Posted: 1969/12/31 18:00 Updated: 1969/12/31 18:00 |
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Originally posted by: frank c who cares who buys Libertys, and who cares if the buyers take them off road? as long as they sell, Daimler doesn't care...as for Xterras, i know two "upscale buyers" who have them, and all they do is drive them back and forth to the airport...so much for off road capability huh?
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| Anonymous |
Posted: 1969/12/31 18:00 Updated: 1969/12/31 18:00 |
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Originally posted by: Xterra This just pisses me off. YAMS, this is the
gayest bunch of B.S. I've ever read. I can't wait
to get this DC lease over with and move on...
maybe Nissan or even Chevy aren't as great
as AMC Jeep, but I have my CJ7, and at least
Nissan and Chevy don't have their heads up
there asses and aren't ruining the Jeep
name....... oh and the Liberty is a hit because
of it's styling? I'm sorry, the more I see that
thing the uglier it looks...... it's just frigan ugly
and the proportions are all out of wac..... THE
LIBERTY SUCKS, anyone who buys it is a
traitor to REAL JEEPS and can KISS MY
A$$!!!!!
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| Anonymous |
Posted: 1969/12/31 18:00 Updated: 1969/12/31 18:00 |
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Originally posted by: augis Well, I was waiting for that bloody Liberty couple years, expecting something really cool (Dakar). After test driving one several times, I bought a Grand Cherokee Laredo.
Whatever nice they say about the Liberty, it's just a propaganda. It's bloody slow, uncomfortable, with a leg room for midget drivers, capable going only to the mall
(yeah, yeah, I know, what they say about it's off road capabilities - if you are stupid, you will believe them) Jeep's parody. No wonder that this four wheel drive mini
station wagon is driven only by suburban broads and poofs.
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| Anonymous |
Posted: 1969/12/31 18:00 Updated: 1969/12/31 18:00 |
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Originally posted by: PSD I have always wanted a Jeep Wrangler and when it finally came time to buy my first Jeep, along came the Liberty. Not really ever being a Cherokee fan (sorry all you die-hard Cherokee fans...I never was attracted to it's looks), before seeing the Liberty, I didn't even consider it. But when I did at the advise of a friend who works at Jeep, I fell in love. I, for one, love the style...it's funky and different. So weighing the pros and cons of the Wrangler and Liberty, I opted for the Liberty and haven't regretted my decision one bit. I am in love with this vehicle.
I probably fit right into the demographics...mid 40s and female...except for the income...LOL...I'm nowhere near the $71,000 mark.
No matter what anyone says...it bears the name, heritage and quality of Jeep. That's the basis for my wanting a Jeep in the first place. They just happen to have designed a new look that I find appealing. I've always been attracted to styles that can be described as "love it or hate it". I'm proud to say I love it and own it.
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| Anonymous |
Posted: 1969/12/31 18:00 Updated: 1969/12/31 18:00 |
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Originally posted by: Kristin here is my comment
The article states that people are buying the Liberty because it is American made, which is precisely why I would consider not buying it. I've always been a Japanese car buyer only because they are more reliable and hold resale value better. Even Consumer Digest rates Japanese cars (new and used) better than American made (please don't tell me, "so go out and buy Japanese.")
To all you die-hard Jeep fans, please let me know how well your Jeeps have or have not served you over the years. I'm seriously considering the new Jeep Liberty (the looks grow on you, even my husband really wants it and he hated the looks at first. But when you drive it you fall in love, especially compared to the other mini-utes out there!). I know since the Liberty is new it's too early to tell about reliability issues. But wondering if Jeeps in general are reliable?? (Consumer Digest doesn't always rate them good).
Please help me make my decision. THANK YOU!
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| Anonymous |
Posted: 1969/12/31 18:00 Updated: 1969/12/31 18:00 |
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Originally posted by: Utah Ken I agree with you. I have laboured this point on many of my postings.....when it comes to styling the Cherokee is like a black tux....never out of style...a classic look. The Liberty is like platform shoes....once they are out of style, you would not be caught dead in a pair.
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| Anonymous |
Posted: 1969/12/31 18:00 Updated: 1969/12/31 18:00 |
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Originally posted by: OR Bruce I have a 99 Cherokee, my third. I drove the Liberty, and it drives great on the road, but I was concerned about ground clearance and luggage space. Four Wheeler and others have said that the Liberty scrapes a lot. Now that Grand Cherokee prices have been lowered, when my lease is up, I'll probably go for that, if I can. A Laredo right now is about the same or less than a Liberty with similar equipment-SelecTrac, ABS, etc. What else is there that's anywhere near affordable? (I'm not going to Xterra). So I'll go with Griff, and get solid axles, at least for three more years.
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| Anonymous |
Posted: 1969/12/31 18:00 Updated: 1969/12/31 18:00 |
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Originally posted by: Matt The reason why they are not being sold side by side is that Jeep dropped the ball. I talked to the chief engineer for the Grand Cherokee, and he said that Jeep was going back and forth on whether or not to sell the cherokee and liberty side by side, and by the time they made the decision, they had run out of time to engineer the new federal crash regs into the cherokee, so they just axed it.
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| Anonymous |
Posted: 1969/12/31 18:00 Updated: 1969/12/31 18:00 |
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Originally posted by: Utah Given that it is a differnt buyer who is purchasing a Liberty rather than a Cherokee.....where was the logic in not continuing to sell and offer both?
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