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Ok - I’m back from the focus group. Pardon this EXTRA LONG update, but there’s a lot to discuss if you care to hear it. I’ll start with the Liberty and its looks, as that’s what you focus on when you walk in the convention center hall (the Patriot, Compass, Wrangler Unlimited 4-door, and Dodge Nitro were all there for inspection and comment, too).
The Liberty looks great, but it’s a different design philosophy than the current, rounded theme. As Skyjump mentioned, it’s definitely got the Commander look, but changed enough so that it still looks like a Liberty. As mentioned earlier, it’s longer - and looks it. They did a good job integrating the extra length - it does NOT look tacked on. The front end is a GREAT version of the Commander’s nose - and it seems to work better on the new Liberty than on the Commander. The headlights & turn signals are multi-lens units behind a large, rectangular plastic housing. Very very modern headlight treatment. The front end has that “get the hell out of my way” look for sure. The hood is fairly flat, but has a kind of “power bulge” that bumps up about an inch from front to back - it looks very good. That hood wraps over to the front fender (as on the current model), but now there are small air vents about 1" tall and 6" long where the back edge of the hood meets the front door meets the front fender (hopefully that makes sense - just under the A-Pillar). The vents on the prototype were not functional (I was chastised for poking my fingernail into one to see if it was a real vent), but it’s hard to tell whether that will change for production. The edge of the hood that drops down into the side fender nicely transitions to the doorframe line - really nice touch. Speaking of that touch, I noticed that all the design lines LINE UP, rather than this new trend of random lines that just go nowhere and do nothing (XTerra).
The side profile has a glass / greenhouse that is nowhere near as tall as the current model’s kind of exaggerated tall glass. Think Hummer H3 side glass, only taller. The fender flares are still there and still trademark KJ. The rear end is very updated, clean, modern and has no spare on the back. It may have been a bit of an optical illusion, but the front wheels look like they are really pushed forward more than on the current model. Definitely not an overhang problem!
The interior is simple, but feels MUCH wider than the current KJ. They also had a Limited trim level that was pretty luxurious due to all the options (I’ll mention those later). While sitting in it, you immediately notice that it does not have that “sitting on top of the world” view of the current KJ, but still has a good view over the hood. You notice a loss of headroom - either that or they had the seat cranked up to its highest position (you weren’t supposed to move it). The dash uses the current, DCX radio / navigation systems from the Grand Cherokee (but in the focus group, they mentioned that it will have the new navigation with traffic re-routing technology). The gauges are basic. The plastic on the door panels didn’t look as nice as what the current KJ has - it was more like a Chrysler 300C’s door panels. There was no ‘soft’ area to rest your left elbow- it just hit hard plastic. Again, just like the new 300. The back seat is much more comfortable and made for humans with normal spines. For me, though, it was tough getting out of the backseat without getting my foot caught. But that’s for the rare backseat passenger to worry about.
Cargo area is definitely larger due to the added length, but they wouldn’t let you fold the seats down to see if they fold flat, etc. I did see extra power outlets in the cargo area as I was nosing around.
Depending on your answers to various questions, you were asked to evaluate two other “competitors” among the other vehicles there. The “competitors” were mostly NOT competitors: Saturn Vue, Honda CR-V, Hyundai Santa Fe, Ford Escape, Nissan Xterra, and a Toyota Fake Jeep. Based on my answers, I was supposed to further evaluate the Xterra and the FJ. The Xterra was by far the better of the two, but I can’t stand its interior. The FJ is unique in its own, weird way. But visibility and practicality - not to mention fuel economy - just aren’t there. I would hate that thing after about two days.
Then they had you move to the other vehicles: Compass, Wrangler Unlimited, Patriot, and Dodge Nitro (they also had a Grand Cherokee and Commander). I was surprised how much I liked the LOOK of the Compass. I was prepared to hate it. It looks like a car that would like to take a Mini Cooper, eat it for lunch, spit it out, and not miss a beat. DCX should hop this thing up and make it a road rocket. While I’m not sure about Jeep putting out products going in FWD / car-like direction, Jeep has lost market share the last five or six years. So, if that thing is a success, I view it as a car that will help support development of the kind of Jeeps I like. Moving on to the Patriot - it just didn’t do much for me. I didn’t quite get it. From the interior alone, you could tell that it, like the Compass, was just a Dodge Caliber. Again, if it helps Jeep sell more cars and regain market share....
The Wrangler Unlimited 4-door is unbelievable. What a home run. Not much else to say - it will be a huge hit, without question.
The Nitro will be a home run, too. My guess is that it will be a bit of a “bling bling” car in the aftermarket. We’ll see.
Now for the focus group today. When I checked out of the convention center last night, I was asked if I’d like to participate in a focus group the following morning. It was another $150 and another chance to glimpse into the inner workings of a big car manufacturer. So of course I signed up.
My group consisted of five women and three men. There was a moderator and a man videotaping the two-hour session. The group started out with the moderator asking us to define what makes a Jeep a Jeep, including defining the word “Jeepness.” We all came back to the old tag line, “It’s a Jeep thing, you wouldn’t understand” and how that sums up a lot of our feelings about having a vehicle that kicks butt off road, is rugged, reliable, loyal, and makes a certain statement about yourself.
A constant theme of this exercise was how women and men might view these vehicles (the new Liberty, Compass, Patriot, Wrangler) differently - so you’ll see me mentioning men vs. women a lot through this posting. Not being sexist, it was just the tone of much of the two hours, including a strange discussion of what was a “chick car.”
Then we moved on to the new Liberty’s styling and what we all thought. The men loved it and would immediately trade (myself included if it had a diesel), and women liked it but preferred the current KJ. Men generally liked the return to the boxier, traditional look. One man had a good point that he was sad to see the current KJ’s one-of-a-kind, unique look go away (I can agree with that). Women thought it was too boxy and possibly a bit “Hummer-like” it its profile. I pointed out that a possible Hummer resemblance was inevitable as GM has stolen so many Jeep styling cues for the Hummer. Trust me - the side windows are nowhere near as narrow as a Hummer’s, and this car will not be mistaken for a Hummer. One woman said she liked the current KJ’s cartoonish look, which ticked me off - I don’t think the KJ looks cartoonish at all. Unique, yes. Cartoonish, no. Most of the women disliked the fact that the spare had be removed from the back. Everyone agreed it would be the best looking vehicle in Jeep’s upcoming lineup when the current KJ goes away.
Many of us liked the increased size, remembering our old, faithful Cherokees that could hold a bit more in the back (without the spare). The old Cherokee came up a LOT in these two hours, most of us having owned one for many, many years before moving on to a KJ.
Then the moderator moved on the group’s priorities for the new Liberty. Off-road capability was #1 for everyone, whether it just be deep snow or trails for professionals. The group moderator was trying to feel out why off roading ability was so important to us. One woman put it best by saying, “sir, there’s a reason EVERYONE calls them Jeep Trails!” ‘Nuf said.
There were two current CRD owners, including myself. Unfortunately, nothing about a diesel was mentioned. The only drivetrain discussed was the current 3.7L V-6 w/ 4-speed automatic. They didn’t discuss manual transmission options, though a couple of the participants were pretty vocal that they expected a manual option. From what I could see of the increased hood space on the prototype, it might be able to accomodate the new Bluetech diesel V-6. Knock on wood / Are you listening, Dr. Z?
The moderator then turned us to possible options and features. We were to focus on what we thought were the most innovative options / features, then what we thought were the most important options / features if we were to order one. Everyone agreed that this new canvas “sky roof” that spanned most of the roof (discussed at this thread’s first posting) was by far the most innovative feature. It reminded me of a modern version of the old VW Beetle cloth sunroof. But unlike the old VW, this one automatically retracts both front to back and back to front (it kept breaking down by 8:30pm). Interesting, novel idea, but why canvas? Other manufactures have done this with various metal panels that stack up when the roof is retracted. We all worried about it being noisy on the highway, vulnerable to vandalism and leakage, and whether it would be worth the $1200 they were going to charge for it. There is also going to be a navigation system with traffic alert / re-routing features, kind of like what Acura advertises now. There will be automatic climate control, memory for seats and side mirror positions, traditional sunroof, and a really innovative system that appeared to be a universal charger for devices like iPods, cameras, cell phones, etc. Leather, etc. was shown on the Limited version - nice leather.
We were then asked our thoughts about “tag lines” for the new Liberty. There were three possibilities, none of which were that great. Hopefully they’ll come up with something better.
During all this we were also asked about the Compass, Patriot and Wrangler. Everyone loved the Wrangler except one person who thought it was too flashy for her. The women universally hated the Compass (interesting, as that’s the Compass’ target market, I believe). The men mostly thought it looked “ok” but that it would be strange to see Jeep straying so far from its roots. The women loved the Patriot. The men didn’t say much about the Patriot except that it sort of resembled the old Cherokee.
Ok - enough. I’ve probably bored you all to death. But thanks for reading. If they keep the off-road ability and make a diesel available, there’s a fantastic vehicle coming our way sometime soon.
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<b>2005 Liberty CRD Limited</b>
Atlantic Blue, Navigation, Sirius,
Park Distance Control,
Parrot Bluetooth system;
Custom heated, leather seats (black on the side bolsters, Atlantic Blue center);
Skid plate package, Michelin Cross-Terrains
<b>2007 Mercedes ML320 CDI (twin-turbo V6 diesel)
2008 Mercedes C350 Sport
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I'd have to see some images before I could decide. If they do put a diesel in the new one I'll seriously consider a trade-in sometime down the road 
