[IDK]

I'd like to see Ford or International buy them and start using diesel technology and they would get a way better drive train. Remember the old Broncos and Scouts? You can curse them things all you want but you'll never find a tougher 4x4. Imagine a Ford or IHC drive train under a Jeep equipped with either a diesel or Hemi engine? Think of the military J8 Jeep used in the military having one of those.

[Ironworker709]

I agree,i have had several early broncos,from 66-77 and you just counld't beat them things into the ground,i still have a 66 bronco which will be a ground up project.
I also have a 2000 F250 super duty 4x4 with the 7.3 intercooled turbo,most dependable,strongest and best fuel mileage engine i've EVER owned.

Would hate to see the jeep go to the dogs..so to speek

I did see an article where Fiat is now going to ditch a few of the jeep models and bring a few of the italian models into the chrysler/jeep scenario....i twitched at the thought of it.....

[TurtleSlinger]

Anything involving Fiat scares the living crap out of me!

[kreso]

x2 agree 100%

[stpeteTJ]

I'll buy Jeep! No seriously, I get some investors, loans(lol), etc and buy it!

I'll treat you all well. I'll build a ford raptor type thingy, a beastly armored HUMVEE thing, get rid of everything but the wrangler and GC, and then put hummer out of business.

[345jeep]

If I were Ford, I'd make an offer for Jeep. First of all, Ford doesn't need a bunch of US Govt funded Jeep Fiat CUVs dumped on the market to compete with the Escape / Edge / Flex. Second, they can get more economy of scale out of engines like the Ecoboost V6, Triton, and Boss V8s. If I were Ford, I'd offer these models:

Jeep Wrangler - - today's JK with V6 or 4.6L V8 options
Jeep Wrangler Unlimited - - today's JK with V6 or 4.6L V8 options
Jeep Cherokee - - JK chassis with an SUV body on top...same engines as the JK
Jeep Wagoneer - - Short WB F-150 chassis with an SUV body on top...high ground clearance and low overhangs 6.2 L Boss V8

All vehiches available in Laredo, Limited, and Rubicon trim levels. Four Wheel Drive STANDARD on all models.

Ford CUV's cover the soccer mom and yuppie markets.

[Peej03]

Maybe if we are all good little boys and girls, santa will bring back amc from the grave. Revamp the jeep line up. Bring back the J series and commando. Hell. I wouldnt mind seeing a 2010 gremlin or Javelin lol

[DocJake]

Has anyone seen the financials on all Chrysler's divisions? Who's making and who's breaking? Seems like most flailing companies, they'd sell of their least profitable divisions first, unless of course they received an offer they couldn't refuse. Selling off Jeep, would in my mind, be like selling your nuts to save your ****. Not much of an idea, if you ask me.

[Marauder_Pilot]

Well, here's the sales number for October:
Month Sales Vol % Sales CYTD Vol %

Model Curr Yr Pr Yr Change Curr Yr Pr Yr Change

----- ------- ----- ------ ------- ----- ------

Sebring 2,548 3,772 -32% 19,979 65,200 -69%

300 2,914 3,415 -15% 32,236 55,222 -42%

Crossfire 0 253 -100% 499 1,819 -73%

PT Cruiser 135 3,145 -96% 16,895 45,490 -63%

Aspen 54 1,045 -95% 5,906 18,726 -68%

Pacifica 0 606 -100% 1,955 6,227 -69%

Town & Country 7,164 7,667 -7% 68,879 102,954 -33%

CHRYSLER BRAND 12,815 19,903 -36% 146,349 295,638 -50%

-------------- ------ ------ --- ------- ------- ---

Compass 327 855 -62% 10,352 23,244 -55%

Patriot 1,148 3,252 -65% 26,744 50,596 -47%

Wrangler 5,305 6,292 -16% 70,350 71,427 -2%

Liberty 2,725 3,918 -30% 35,378 58,211 -39%

Grand Cherokee 3,256 5,638 -42% 43,146 62,971 -31%

Commander 739 1,405 -47% 9,582 24,059 -60%

JEEP BRAND 13,500 21,360 -37% 195,552 290,508 -33%

---------- ------ ------ --- ------- ------- ---

Caliber 583 4,438 -87% 30,397 78,507 -61%

Avenger 4,221 3,723 13% 31,552 57,551 -45%

Charger 4,864 6,255 -22% 50,974 86,475 -41%

Challenger 2,398 3,014 -20% 21,276 11,457 86%

Viper 28 87 -68% 395 959 -59%

Magnum 0 56 -100% 113 6,833 -98%

Journey 3,678 4,380 -16% 41,520 40,007 4%

Caravan 9,020 8,369 8% 73,932 110,767 -33%

Nitro 1,426 2,457 -42% 15,071 32,528 -54%

Durango 47 984 -95% 3,463 18,323 -81%

DODGE BRAND 26,265 33,763 -22% 268,693 443,407 -39%

----------- ------ ------ --- ------- ------- ---

Dakota 515 957 -46% 9,409 22,583 -58%

Ram P/U 12,262 17,626 -30% 155,467 213,684 -27%

Sprinter 446 921 -52% 5,849 12,229 -52%

RAM BRAND 13,223 19,504 -32% 170,725 248,496 -31%

--------- ------ ------ --- ------- ------- ---

TOTAL CHRYSLER

GROUP LLC 65,803 94,530 -30% 781,319 1,278,049 -39%

TOTAL CAR 17,556 25,014 -30% 187,423 365,115 -49%

TOTAL TRUCK 48,247 69,516 -31% 593,896 912,934 -35%

Selling Days 28 27 257 257

------------ -- -- --- ---

Source: Chrysler Group LLC

No financial statements, since Chrysler (As a private company), doesn't need to, and probably doesn't because I'm sure they're ugly.

However, what we can get from this is that Jeep, as it exists, suffered the least drop after Ram.
Here's the list in best-selling order, going by the YTD sales (I've omitted models that are no longer made and just selling old stock):
Ram: 155,467
Caravan: 73,932
Wrangler: 70,350
Town and Country: 68,789
Charger: 50,974
Grand Cherokee: 43,146
Journey: 41,520
Liberty: 35,378
300: 32,236
Avenger: 31,552

Caliber: 30,397
Patriot: 26,744
Challenger: 21,276
Sebring: 19,979
PT Cruiser: 16,895
Nitro: 15,071
Compass: 10,352
Commander: 9,582
Dakota: 9,409
Sprinter: 5,849
Viper: 395

Breaking it down by brand, we get:
Chrysler:
Town and Country: 68,789
300: 32,236
Sebring: 19,979
PT Cruiser: 16,895
Total: 137,899
Average per model: 34475

Dodge:
Caravan: 73,932
Charger: 50,974
Journey: 41,520
Avenger: 31,552
Caliber: 30,397
Challenger: 21,276
Nitro: 15,071
Viper: 395
Total: 265117
Average per Model: 33140
APM excluding the Viper as a statistical anomaly (Since it will never share sales numbers anywhere even close to the rest of the brand): 37817

Ram:
Ram: 155,467
Dakota: 9,409
Sprinter: 5,849
Total: 170725
Average per Model: 56908

Jeep:
Wrangler: 70,350
Grand Cherokee: 43,146
Liberty: 35,378
Patriot: 26,744
Compass: 10,352
Commander: 9,582
Total: 195552
Average per Model: 32952

As it stands, Jeep is second for sales/division, but has the lowest average because its weighted down by the Compass and Commander, which are both on the way out. Dodge is the highest, but also has the most models.

However, in the top 10, Jeep has 3 models. Dodge has 4, Ram has 1 and Chrysler 2. However, note the extreme gap between the sales numbers top to bottom in the top 10.

If we look at the sales numbers for the top 10, Jeep has 148,874, Dodge has 197,978, Ram has 155,467 and Chrysler has 101025. So, Jeep comes third here, and has the third-highest sales per model at 49625 (Dodge at 49495, Chrysler at 50,512

As it stands, all the divisions stand pretty close for individual profitability, neither really has any incentive over the other in terms of sales.

HOWEVER, there's a bunch of data we'd need to make a proper decision that isn't available to us-specifically, the value of each brand (I'd imagine Jeep would rank very highly) and the return on equity of each brand (Again, an area I'd expect Jeep to do quite well in).

[DocJake]

Great info Marauder_Pilot! That's very informative and says to me that Jeep is a consistently lucrative, mature marque with a following that will likely ensure that it won't be on the block anytime soon.

[bshae342]

Jeep is one of the only brands which sells units...I can't imagine they would sell it.

[RedHotChiliDog]

If someone does buy Jeep then hopefully they will prevent what Chrysler is doing to the Jeep name. (ex. Patriot, Compass, the small engines they will be putting in the Wranglers in 2011...)

[Marauder_Pilot]

Whaddya mean, small engines? The JK is the FIRST Wrangler available without a 4-cylinder, they didn't even get a 6-cylinder until the Willys Hurricane in the M38! The 3.6L V6 Pentastar is more powerful, has more torque and better mileage then the current 3.8L V6 AND the old 4.0L I6, as does the upcoming 2.8L V4 Iveco (NOT VM Motori) diesel!

I hardly see how giving the Wrangler two fantastic engines on par with, maybe even better, the old I6 is a bad thing.

[riptide]

Originally Posted by Unlimited04

speculation or not, the Nissan/Dodge partnership will vastly improve car engines, and will improve Nissan's appeal with more power and tonage options, including the diesel. In 2011, gas prices will be too high to drive a HEMI V8, and maybe too expensive to drive anything with 19mpg. Clean diesel hybrids and fuel cells are the future....

umm gas dropped 30% here in the last few years. And even then we see people driving big *** trucks. Tack on another 5+ years before gas prices are that bad.

[DocJake]

Reuters did that story a while back on Chrysler being in talks about selling Jeep, but Jeep's operating officers have vehemently denied it. Maybe they did flirt around a bit, who knows, but from the looks of the last conference call, it seems they've decided to refocus on Jeep's core image. Now that they've decided to ditch the mall wagons, I'm hoping R&D can focus more of its energy on the 3 top sellers, wrangler, cherokee, and liberty. Could we see hemi and diesel options in the next 4 yrs?

As for thoughts I've heard on this board about, "what if Jeep could just break away from Chrysler", Jeep is part and parcel of Chrysler. Jeep's value is Chrysler's property. Jeep could no sooner "break away" than my left nut decide to jump ship and run off with my girlfriend.