jeepin.jason

When a consumer panel put together by the Detroit News recently reviewed the new 2007 Jeep Compass they unanimously gave it a failing grade, despite the same panel giving the 2007 Dodge Caliber (the Compass’ production sibling) a glowing review. 10 of the 10 panelists would recommend the Caliber and 6 of 10 said they’d buy it themselves, but none of those same panelists said they would buy the Compass, and only two said they would recommend it to friends or family. One of those two said they felt the Compass was really only suitable for a “mature” audience, which totally flies in the face of DCX’s youthful target marget for the Compass.

Many of the panelists expressed concern that the Compass was “pointing the brand in the wrong direction” and one even said that they felt the Compass was “spiritually wrong.” In his driving log, one panelist wrote, “Jeep, to me, no longer can justify having that ‘rugged’ reputation attached to its brand name.” And another wrote simply, “That thing is ugly.“

And these weren’t died-in-the-wool Jeepers talking here! The panel was made up of regular men and women from the Detroit area—a hair stylist, two young college students, a Detroit bus driver, an area architect, an insurance executive, two school teachers, and a Ford pipefitter.

My favorite quote by one of the panelists in th article: “If I want a Jeep, I’ll buy a real one.“

Check out the whole article here.