Wads13

That's the spirit

MeatCurtains

Since we are on new Jeeps. Anyone hear the rumor of Jeep bringing back the Cherokee? Not the Grand but the Cherokee.

GeckoJK

Agreed. I dont think a JK replacement will be here by 2015. 2017 seems more on target and keeps with past history.

Chewmeista

Exactly, and another quality of jeep is versatility, you cant get more versatile than a 4 dr go anywhere do anything.

Flip94ta

A couple guesses:

Bumper more intergrated into the grille and flares
Less pronounced flares for aero
Fixed windshield laid back more
Lower profile door handles
Flush or removed hood latches
High strength steel frame, lighter but stronger
Larger sway bars
5000lb tow capacity on 4 door/pickup
Curtain airbags in the roll bar
3.2L Pentastar/2.2-2.4 CRD and 8HP auto
Sliding second row seats
Backup camera
Aluminum rear drive shaft
~120" wheelbase on 4 door/pickup for bed length/rear leg room

I suspect the new jeep for MY 2016 to meet the CAFE.

Rubicon John

Don't forget IFS...that one always makes it into the next gen rumor mill.

OJK12

I agree with you guys that seems more like when we will see one. Maybe I am the only one who feels this way but really there are only tweaks needed to improve the JK. I'd be happy with them fixing a few things and only a refresh of the body and call it a JK2 but that's just me. As time goes on I am more and more afraid of the wrangler lossing its identity maybe not by Chryslers choice but because of cafe laws the government imposes.

Jeepster831

Hahaha this is hilarious !!!!

scouter4life

Yea, I've heard this one, basically they dropped the Liberty in 2013 which was the Cherokee replacement, and will likely bring it back renamed back to the Cherokee in time for the new CAFE standards with all sorts of changes so it gets good MPG's. I don't expect it will be a great offroad vehicle, at least stock. Going forward I'm afraid Jeep will have one great offroad vehicle (maybe 2 if they come out with a production pickup based on the Wrangler frame) and several that are more related to Subaru's than what we think of as Jeep.

Come 2016-2017 here is how I expect the Jeep lineup will look (names may change, but I'll use these to emphasize vehicle type).

Wrangler - similar to what we have today, much more fuel efficient engine, some weight reduction (maybe slightly smaller) and likely some slight changes to the aerodynamics. Jeep will be targeting 25MPG with the standard engine, but should see better with a hybrid or diesel. Removeable doors and folding windshield will still be part of it. Jeep has been adamant about keeping the heritage of the Wrangler, so I expect these to stay.

Pickup - The way things are looking right now and all the emphasis Jeep has put on factory packages to convert a JK, I expect they wil have a factory pickup based on the Wrangler frame with the next generation of Jeep. Numbers will be similar to those of the Wranglers.

Grand Cherokee - Similar to today, will fill the midsize SUV category, but expect under body changes and like the Wrangler, more efficient engine. Jeep will target 25-27MPG

New Cherokee (Liberty?) - This will be smaller than the GC and will be in the compact SUV category and will compete against the likes of the Escape, Forester, etc . Jeep will taget around 30MPG

Patriot/Compass - Likely will be renamed, will be more car like and will compete with the likes of Suburu Legacy/Outback. Jeep will target 35+MPG.

All in all, if this is what they do, I think it's a solid line-up. You still have your offroad beasts with the Wrangler and hopefully the pickup, the nice SUV in the GC (all no different than today), but should see an improvement in quality and design in their smaller vehicles and if they specifically target small off road capable vehicle (not talking rock crawling or mudding, I mean forest roads and bad weather conditions), I think they would have a winning combination. I also expect there will be Hybrid versions of most of these, if not all, to help get the MPG's up.


Now for what I don't believe you'll see:

No full size pick up
No Wagoneer (i.e. Full Size Jeep)
No mini Wrangler (i.e Fiat Panda) though they may base the Cherokee on this, I think it will be very different
Multiple small vehicles (never understood the reasoning behind having both the Liberty and Compass)

MeatCurtains

They would have to do something intense to the wrangler to make me get all butt-hurt over it.

Kind of a bummer its just going to be a rebadged liberty. I guess I'm going to have to go to work and let some people down.

I missed the guy at the beginning of the thread who said something about that survey. I got one similar to that just after I bought my 2011, it was really weird and obvious they were looking to do some major changing to the vehicle. I never thought anything of it because every vehicle I've ever purchased I had to fill our a survey, but yeah it was pretty thorough unlike most of the other ones.