Click above to view a gallery of the Patriot's new accoutrements
All you used to need to know about the Jeep Patriot is that it looks Jeepy; drives super-solidly (even when making forays above 80 mph); and comes with a nasty interior that will shred your knuckles on that excess flash all over every piece (Ed. note: flash is what's left over from injection molding where the two halves of the mold come together). Take that painful and bloody criticism, print it out on heavy paper, and then savor the sound as you crumple it up; our bloviating has been rendered irrelevant by Chrysler delivering on its promise to fix the Patriot's insides.
Our final judgement will come down after we get a chance to sample one of the new interiors in person, but these pics of the new interior we picked up on last week are inside vehicles that have already made their way to some Jeep dealers' lots. There's a new, smoother dashboard; SRT-reminiscent seats; and door panels that look more well thought out (nevermind that manual window crank). It's nice to see that Chrysler's owner-pooch has put its money where its three mouths are and delivered a more attractive interior that appears higher quality. Click the gallery below to see more angles of the Patriot's new flash-less interior. Thanks for the tip, Jeffrey!
Click above to enlarge the 2009 Jeep Compass and Patriot interior
Chrysler has taken a beating from both consumers and the media regarding the poor quality and materials inside the majority of its products, particularly the Jeep Patriot and Compass. Recognizing the problem, Chrysler made the announcement earlier this year that it would be seriously revamping both model's interiors in short order, and judging by these leaked images from the 2009 Mopar Accessory brochure, they weren't lying.
Looking at the pictures from the brochure, the model with the gray and black interior is the refreshed version, while the beige picture (with heated seats!) seems to be the new '09 dash with the pre-2009 door panels. The dash is all new and looks to be a step-up, while the leather seats have been revised and look more upscale than before. Perhaps the greatest difference will be the door panels, which featured hard plastics, chintzy buttons and switches that were directly in the way of where your arm should go. The new 2009 interior puts these items in recesses, which was sorely needed. We'll reserve final judgment until we get to see and feel the updates in person. Thanks for the tip, TJ!
It's no secret that Chrysler has some overlapping models in its lineup. Case(s)-in-point: it's hard to make a rational argument that Jeep should be offering both the Compass and Patriot (not to mention Dodge selling the Patriot's platform sibling, the Caliber) or the Grand Cherokee and the Commander. The Chrysler Aspen and Dodge Durango barely pretend to be different vehicles and there's no reason to sell both the Jeep Liberty and Dodge Nitro when they're basically the same machine. This revelation is as obvious to Chrysler's new management as it is to us, and Chrysler President Jim Press, says as much. "We're going to stop overlapping, we're going to bring everything under one roof. By doing that we will have more products in the markets we are not covering."
Also marked as redundant by Press are the Chrysler Town and Country and Dodge Caravan minivans, but as easy as it may be to pinpoint overlapping models, fixing that problem may prove more difficult. Dealers will need to begin offering the whole Chrysler line of vehicles if this strategy of "bringing everything under one roof" is to succeed. Expect to see drastic changes taking place in the next four to five years.
After a five-day shutdown due to a mechanical glitch at Chrysler's Belvidere stamping plant, the facility will again be able to resume building the Dodge Caliber, Jeep Compass, and Jeep Patriot. In the short term, Chrysler will keep the assembly facility running smoothly by outsourcing stamping to other nearby plants. The shutdown came only weeks before the Belvidere plant permanently drops one shift, which will result in the indefinite layoff of 1,000 workers. With a tough economy in which automakers are struggling to sell units, it's unlikely many people will have difficulty finding a Caliber, Compass, or Patriot as a result of the temporary shutdown.
Having learned from the sales bank debacle of the past, Chrysler is now throttling back production to draw down inventory levels. Sales of the PM/MK platform cars – Dodge Caliber and Jeep ComPatriot twins – are down roughly 23 percent compared to last year. Part of that is due to a move away from fleet sales, but whatever the cause, the 3,400 workers at the Belvidere assembly plant will get a two week vacation starting Monday. It's a great time of year to take a trip, enjoy some of the last warm days before winter tightens its grip, or just get out and rake the yard. By the time the line starts back up again, the backlog of unsold vehicles will be reduced, and the looming catastrophe of UAW contract talks will be looming.
The Jeep Wrangler Unlimited, Compass, and Patriot are helping Chrysler defend its market share in a declining sales environment. Between these new models and incentives on Dodge and Chrysler vehicles, Chrysler has managed to stay 0.1% ahead of the market's year-on-year drop in sales. The Wrangler Unlimited is proving a noteworthy boon, helping lift Wrangler sales by 71% year-over-year. Steve Landry, Chrysler's EVP of North American sales said, "The four-door has really created a halo effect for the Jeep brand, bringing people into the Jeep showrooms and it has improved our two-door sales."
Although Chrysler-brand vehicles lead the way among the Big Three in incentives, Jeep has placed little reliance on them. The numbers mean that Chrysler's market share has actually improved a tiny bit, from 12.85% to 12.86% in the US. It's a minuscule improvement to be sure, but for a company that has been through the wringer over the past few months (years, some would say), it's still a great statement.
Smash-and-grab robberies usually involve thugs breaking a car window, grabbing some desirable object left in plain sight (such as a purse or an iPod), and making tracks. A team of thieves in Shippensburg, PA, however, has clearly outgrown that JV stuff and moved up to the Varsity level by applying the tried-and-true smash-and-grab techniques to Naugle Motors, a local Dodge/Chrysler/Jeep dealer.
That's where they apparently broke into an '08 Jeep Patriot, got it started, and then drove it through the showroom door to get what they really wanted: the Sublime Green Charger Daytona sitting on the floor. (They couldn't have smashed a Compass instead? What gives?) Once in the Dodge, the perpetrators got the hell outta Dodge, so to speak. (BaDumBum -Ed.) Authorities have not recovered the car, but if it isn't in pieces or on some container ship headed overseas, we have a hunch that it'll get found.
After all, a Daytona with the Sublime finish is basically visible from outer space. If it's local, someone's gonna see it.
As part of its novel marketing campaign for the new Patriot, Jeep has developed an interactive comic book game of sorts that allows users to follow the adventures of three different characters who use a Jeep Patriot to complete their journeys. It's called the Patriot Adventure, naturally. As a companion to that online effort, the TV commercials will mimic the look and feel of that effort and use the same cast in vignettes from the game. The first TV spot is set to debut during the NCAA tourney on March 15, but the video is already on YouTube and available after the jump. Called "Wolf," it is set at a riverside campground where we see a couple of pranksters stealing a canoe off the roof of a Patriot while the owner sleeps in her tent.
Not one to take this lying down, she fires up her trusty Jeep Patriot and gets ahead of them by driving through rugged terrain, which the Patriot of course handles effortlessly (It's Trail-Rated, you know). But how exactly will she manage to stop them when they are in the water and she is on terra firma? And why is it called "Wolf?" Click through to find out. While the commercial lacks any attemptsat suicide, we're eager to see what action group steps forward to nail DCX with accusations of animal endangerment on behalf of a supposedly traumatized wolf.
Yes, even more stuff comes down the pike from the guys and gals of DaimlerChrysler. This time, it's in the form of the Jeep Patriot, as envisioned by the good folks at the Chrysler Design Center. As of yet, it's unnamed, so we'll ask for suggestions in 'comments.'
In the meantime, we'll call it the Partly Pragmatic Patriot and give you the quick and dirty on what's been done. The modifications made were centered on making this mild-mannered people mover into a true off-roader. The majority of the focus came by way of jacking up the suspension two-and-a-half inches and throwing on 16" wheels with BFG Mud Terrain tires. That combination of tire and custom-suspension gives the PPP over 11-inches of ground clearance, which will make it easier to avoid smashing that new, metal front-bumper into large, immovable objects.
Beyond that, the team threw on a new roof rack and lighting system, and did their best to make the PPP as purposeful as it looks.
The Chrysler Group has gotten tons of PR mileage out of the popularity of the Dodge Caliber, to the point where dealers haven't been able to keep them in stock and consumers have to beg for a test drive (new Calibers net more profit than demos, after all). Unfortunately for the automaker, the Caliber's stablemate, the Jeep Compass, isn't enjoying the same successes. As the first car-based Jeep to hit the streets, the Caliber's sales have been lower than projected despite the vehicle's distinctive styling and sharp interior. The problem seems to be the 2006 models glutting dealer lots, giving potential Compass buyers food for thought -- a 2007 Compass doesn't represent the same kind of deal as, say, a loaded up 2006 Jeep Liberty.
Automotive News reports that the transaction price of the Dodge Caliber has risen since its introduction, beginning at $17,059 in March and then up to $18,276 by the end of September, while the Compass' price has lowered from $22,467 at launch to $21,534.
Jeep has quite a predicament on its hands if the Liberty and even Grand Cherokee are cannibalizing Compass sales -- evidently yet another drawback to Chrysler's resistance to cutting production when showrooms first started clogging up. We'll see how the situation evolves when the Patriot comes out.
Paris Preview: Officially Official, Honda's new hybrid is the Insight!
Mazda Kiyora city car concept, MX-5 facelift head to Paris
Leaked: Official updated Mazda MX-5 image
Reader Spy: Chevy Volt caught on set of Transformers 2
Spy Shot: Production interior of Chevy Volt (maybe)
In the Autoblog Garage: 2009 Jaguar XF Supercharged
By the Numbers - August 2008: New Digs Edition
In the Autoblog Garage: KITT Shelby GT500 KR
First Drive: 2009 Cadillac CTS-V
In the Autoblog Garage: 2009 Nissan Murano
