Jeep sales decline in advance of new model year.

Jeep(R) brand sales declined 16 percent as the brand begins clearin gthe way for the launch of the all-new Jeep Grand Cherokee this fall .Existing Jeep Grand Cherokee sales declined 27 percent, while Je epWrangler posted sales of 3 percent lower compared to August 2003 sales .Jeep Liberty sales decreased 8 percent.

      DaimlerChrysler Corporation U.S. Sales Summary Thru August 2004
                                        Month Sales   Adjusted Unadjusted
Model                              Curr Yr    Pr Yr
Wrangler                            6,123     6,797     -3%    -10%
Liberty                            13,874    16,352     -8%    -15%
Grand Cherokee                     13,563    20,050    -27%    -32%
JEEP BRAND                         33,560    43,199    -16%    -22%

4-Wheeler Magazine (print edition) is reporting in their October ,2004 issue that DaimlerChrysler will release a Rubicon version of the long-wheelbased Wrangler Unlimited. This comes as no surprise to anyone who has seen this.

Wrangler (original and long-wheelbased) halftops that we mentioned in this article will be available from Bestop starting in December for 2003/2004 Wranglers and in April, 2005 for the Unlimited.

TheCarConnection.com has a review of the all-new 2005 Grand Cherokee - short version: they like it.

WardsAuto.com also has a review of the 2005 Grand Cherokee - they like it too.