JCDriller

I know nothing of it's offroad capability, but I've always liked the H3Ts.

Four Low

Competition makes a better product. Suzuki tried, and succeeded with the Samurai, until Senator Dingle ( yes, "Dingle") Lee Iacoca, head of Chrysler) and Consumer Reports ganged up and torpedoed Suzuki with the infamous "stability test". Chrysler didnt want the competition, Dingle didn't want the imports, Consumers Report never liked anything that didn't match sandals and granola bars. The test was later proven, and admitted, to be designed in order to make the Samurai less stable. However, the damage was done, you can't unring a bell. They were outselling YJs by
2:1 in 1987. Price and features. That couldn't be allowed.
Fast forward to the present : the Colorado platform, with its soon-to-be -available diesel, would be a "natural".
Removable top and doors, diesel, build quality, whats not to love ? The H4 "would have been" a contender, but that chapter closed.
The Jeep is Iconic because of it WW 2 origins, everybody loves a Hero, and its post-war sucess in farm, field, recreation - there was a Jeep for every purpose.
I think today's market is more concerned with value , and Bang for the Buck .Jeep rested on its fame in the Daimler years ( O, the Irony of a German corporate owner) to the brands decline. The JK has far too many quality issues of the stupidest kind that should not be. Linkages, electrical, ball joints, too many to list.
Bring an excellent quality, "fun" on/off road vehicle with removable top and doors, priced in the $20,000 range.
Stand back, watch 'em sell !

Billbikes

I'm not convinced of GM's superior quality. Have you seen their recalls lately?

axendo79

Bring back the Blazer name, base it off of the new Chevy Colorado with the 2.8L diesel, and give it solid axles and I would be interested. Imagine this with a removable top and a 6000lb towing capacity.

Jeepstin12

aside from the media Kool aid, you should google vehicle recalls and see just how many are not immune to the same problems. Jeep has one right now for fires in a few vehicles.

notnalc68

Agreed. Competition would force Chrysler to try to outperform.

https://autos.yahoo.com/blogs/motora...162104054.html

Mark Doiron

The die is cast for 2017. Assuming that is the next generation model year, major decisions like SFA/IFS, steel/aluminum body panels, engine/transmission combos, removable tops/doors, foldable windshield, etc--all those have been made. That doesn't mean that there aren't quality decisions left--the beancounters can allow the engineers to choose the higher price/quality BJs, for example. But even if GM announced a new Hummer coming in 2018, it's too late for Chrysler/Jeep/Fiat to make any major design changes to a next generation Jeep.

notnalc68

The problem is, the government is telling them what they can and can't do.

tjkamp

The problem is that generally the concern is the bottom line and the hight of profit. Vehicles today are considered disposable, they build them in the hopes that it will last only as long as it holds the infinitely short attention span of modern American society. Most people don't buy a vehicle with plans to keep it long term, they buy a vehicle and keep it until they have it paid off or can affordably trade it in the next latest and greatest thing.

Generally, I feel, and hope that the Jeep mindset is a little different. Sadly on the same note, I don't mind so much that I am stacking miles on my DD Jeep quicker than I can count, I figure I only have so long before the electrical starts crapping out, and I might as well get as much bang out of the mechanical aspects as I can before the electrical system makes it no longer reliable enough to keep going down the road.

notnalc68

Yeah. I'm keeping mine, hopefully in decent enough condition to do a Chevy LS swap, when the motor craps out, and as long as I can get the A/C & lights to work, I don't care about ABS and traction control.