And the liberty is selling well, unlike most all other SUVs. For the same price, or even less you get a REAL truck and it doesnt really give up THAT much mpg to the CUVs. Honda is bragging about the great mileage the pilot gets: 24 mpg hwy. A mutated fwd minivan should be getting at least 30mpg or its just pathetic. The whole idea behind CUVs is that they should be cheaper to buy and own than a traditional truck based SUV, the tradeoff is you give up a good part of the load carrying towing capacity and offroad capability. Well I see the reduced utility but not the savings.

 

Junk! Why not just strike a deal with Hyundai and stick "Jeep" "Grand Cherokee" and "Trail Rated" badging on the Sante Fe. It'd be the same damn thing...

Personally (I think I've said this before, but humor me) I think the start of the bad trend was the Libery and it's IFS front. Then the catering to the soccer mom crowd and the IFS goes on the GC. Don't even get me started on the Patriot & Compass! Personally, I think the only good move since before even Daimler swallowed up Chrysler (and we saw how shrewed a move that was) was the 4 door Jeep Unlimited, but of course that vehicle would be unnecessary if the original Cherokee wasn't discontinued...

 

Well, for the sake of accuracy the Liberty is a two-row SUV and the Pilot is a three-row jacked up, conventional door minivan (excuse me CUV) so the Commander would be the more accurate comparison. The truth is the two shouldn't be compared as they are in different classes. Also, the Pilot achieves 23 not 24 at this time which is the same as the Journey which is also a jacked up, conventional door minivan (whoops I mean CUV again).

If anyone is to focus on jacked up, conventional door minivans and high roof station wagons, it should be Dodge and not Jeep.

 

I see your point on the Commander/Pilot thing, but its still not really much of a comparison. Im no Commander fan, but its still a real truck. The commander is more of a competitor to the Durango, sequoia and Expedition. GM just released a bunch of 3-row CUVs, cant remember the names of any of them, and the Explorer with its lowrider ground clearance and 4 wheel indy suspension is just as much of a car or CUV in my book. Thats the Pilot's competition.

How about the Saturn Vue? I saw one of those at a dealership where I was checking out a Mustang and I noticed that one of those with v-6 and AWD was rated at 24 hwy mpg. Still pathetic since thats no real savings over the liberty and it has none of the capability. And its no cheaper to buy.