A few months ago we ran some articles (here and here) about a diesel version of the Jeep Liberty that said that the automobile would debut in North America as a 2004 model. One of our readers, anxious to get a look at the new Liberty, recently contacted the DaimlerChrysler Information Center asking about it and received this reply:

Thank you for your recent email to DaimlerChrysler Motors Corporation regarding the Jeep Liberty with a diesel engine.
 
We are proud of our accomplishments and the excitement our products are generating.  We are successful because we concentrate our resources in the areas of new product development.
 
The DaimlerChrysler Information Center at this time does not have any production information available regarding the 2005 Jeep Liberty with a diesel engine.

Now, to us, that seemed like a perfectly reasonable answer from a large corporation somebody else sent us a review of the North American diesel Jeep Liberty from the Detriot Free Press. Here's a snippet:

I figured out why Germans love diesel engines when I pulled out to pass a V8 BMW 740i on the autobahn in a four-cylinder Jeep Liberty diesel.

Press the accelerator, watch the speedometer move smoothly from 70 m.p.h. to just over 100 m.p.h., then watch the 7-series recede in the rearview mirror.

A Liberty with what promises to be a more powerful and sophisticated diesel engine will go on sale in the United States next year as a 2005 model.

The 2.8-liter 4-cylinder diesel Liberty I drove may only produce 148 horsepower, but it packs 266 pound-feet of torque -- nearly as much as the acclaimed 4.2-liter six-cylinder that powers the considerably heavier Chevrolet Trailblazer -- and torque is the number that matters for acceleration and towing.

Even more impressive, the Liberty generates that torque at engine speeds as low as 2,000 r.p.m., making the power available in regular driving, not just during heavy acceleration.

Germans cherish their right to drive fast with an ardor Americans usually reserve for things like freedom of speech, and the Mercedes-built diesel under the Liberty's hood is the equivalent of a megaphone.

Germans also cherish quaint concepts like paid maternity leave and functioning mass transit, and their sky-high fuel prices reflect the taxes that finance such public goods. A liter -- just over a quart -- of gasoline cost 1.129 euros -- about $1.23 -- at the service station where I topped off the Liberty. That works out to $4.66 a gallon. Diesel cost 0.899 euros a liter, about 98 cents, a 20 percent savings. The Liberty's $38,586 price also includes substantial German taxes.

...snip...

Maybe somebody should send this link to the entire article to the DaimlerChrysler Information Center.