What 3 current vehicles do you think will take the biggest hit in market share once the Patriot starts selling?

My three:

1. Subaru Forester - This was a great design. Had Subaru paid a little more attention to the "rugged male" market segment, and a little less attention to the "overly concerned with saftey and groceries" market segment, this vehicle could have grown into what we hope the Patriot will be. Still, you beat the Subaru AWD. Problems with the Forester:
-viewing angle is too low.
-looks a little soft.
-has no off-road capability as sold.
-fairly pricey as you add options.

2. Freelander - Though it isn't being sold this year, it will be back soon...and it will be back redesigned. The Freelander will have more power and better interior appointments than in previous models. Lets face it, they should because the start around $27,000, and I think that price will go up for the new release. And there is the sticking point....who wants to pay that kind of money when the Patriot is going to offer a similar package for so much less. Land Rover has a great name, but they are still dressing their American sold off-road machines in tuxedos and the customer pays the price. Problems with the Freelander:
-its going to be built on the Ford Focus frame!!!!
-too expensive.

3. Grand Vitara - Lets face it, right now, the GV is the most capable off-roader in the small SUV segment. It offers a true 4WD Lo system and though it is built on a car chasis, it has a rigid ladder frame to re-inforce it. Good gas mileage, a 4-mode (4H, N, 4H lock, 4 Lo) 4WD system, and 185 HP/185 torque...this vehicle is a contender. Further, the price is right. Problems with the GV:
-poor ground clearance/approach-departure angles
-plastic skid plates leave some parts exposed
-doesn't look tough to me
-Suzuki doesn't have an established name yet.

unclejjg,

I agree with most of what you say, but here is a rebuttal on some of the points:

Forester: It's not really that pricey when you look at the Rav4 and CR-V. The stock 2.5X forester, personally has everything I would want in an SUV. When you configure a Rav4 or CR-V with 4x4 and power windows, etc, the prices are actually pretty similar. It just seems more expensive because Subaru's have a lot of standard features that are options on other vehicles. Granted, when you get into the turbo-charged, then it does get a bit pricey.

Freelander: I wouldn't even consider this "competition". Land Rover markets to the rich crowd, so they will always be more expensive, and the Patriot seems to be targeted to the younger market (read: middle-class). I don't think this would take much of a hit, because it seems that most Jeepers dislike Land Rover, and vice versa. So you won't see too many people defecting from one to the other.

Grand Vitara: I personally don't know much about Suzuki cars (although I do admit that I like the Grand Vitara commercials). So I'll just agree with you here :-)

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A couple more to add to the mix:
Rav4: Looks a bit more rugged than the Forester, but the gas mileage is much better. I'm still not convinced that the Patriot will have "great" gas mileage. The Caliber's gas mileage is unspectacular and the Patriot's will probably be a few mpg worse because of the extra weight.

CR-V: I can never picture this thing going off-road.

Tuscon: I never liked Hyundai's but they have supposedly turned around in the past few years.

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I think the Patriot will probably put a dent into all of these though. The Cherokee was ridiculously popular (dammit Jeep, why was it discontinued??!?!?) and the stylings of the Patriot will likely appeal to those.

Feel free to disagree with me :-)

regarding your uncertainty about the patriot's "great" gas mileage ... check out my new thread (http://www.jeeppatriot.com/forum/showthread.php?t=84).

Isn't the Freelander just a Ford Escape with wearing a different dress? ...so while the Freelander may be out of the price market for being competition, the Ford Escape is not.

The Subaru isn't going to be hit very hard up in the Pacific Northwest. There is some sort of weird love for those things up here. I don't see what the fuss is all about... They are not my type of vehicles.

I wonder if Saturn's new SUV will die on the vine before even really getting established once the Patriot gets out on the streets/trails.

I'm from the northeast and Forester's are really popular here, too. I think one of the reasons is that Subarus are generally reliable cars and the visibility in a Forester is actually really good. All Subarus come standard with AWD, so I think that leads to a feeling that Subaru's AWD is better than the others

Plus the Forester has a boxer engine, which lowers the center of gravity thus making it less-prone to rollover and making it drive more like a car. I know we've pretty much decided in another thread that rollovers are from the stupidity of other drivers, but most people aren't smart enough to change their driving habits when they get in an SUV.

So the bottom line is that the Subaru is probably the most appealing to people that want a small SUV but still like to drive it like a car.

Would I ever buy a Forester? Probably not, but I can see why it would appeal to others.

--J

We bought a used Subaru Outback a few years back that had 170,000 miles on the speedometer. It was a rock solid vehicle and we really liked it. It handled the midwest snow really good. Reliability seems to be the code word for Subaru. Let's hope Jeep follows their lead with ALL their new vehicles.

I'll tell you the thing that ticks me off about Subaru....they completely left the male segment of the market behind. Ten years ago their advertising was all about AWD, go anywhere, Paul Hogan as the spokesperson....vehicles that were rough and tumble even though they weren't trucks.

Now, its safety, safety, safety, groceries, family, family, Sherryl Crow "Everyday is a Winding Road", etc.

They could have really taken AWD, which they more or less made popular, and developed an off-road vehicle or a manly truck to compete with the 4WD models from other companies. Hell....they could have done that and had their ultra-safe family oriented vehicles that dominate their model line (exception is the Impreza). Instead, they left the testosterone out to dry and injected every vehicle they have created with a massive dose of estrogen.

Nobody can argue the durability and effectiveness of their vehicles....they are built right, and they perform right. My beef is that they are all built for the same purpose and the same person.

three automobile word rebuttal...

FORESTER 2.5 XT

(is that only two words?)

0-60 in 5.3 seconds

i hope that's not on estrogen or i am going to stay a mile away from my wife once a month

It is not always the best car that wins. Suzuki has a terrible dealership network in the SouthEast. The car has some major flaws in detail execution like a spare tire exposed to body damaging bumps, weak front & rear bumpers and a cheap looking dash. It is the dealership network, however, that will kill it. I am surprised as Suzuki is at least partially owned by General Motors and should have done better!

Hey, they can have the "Crocodile Hunter" as their current spokesperson:-)

Can't stand/stomach the stereo-typical type of owner of a subaru up n the Pacific Northwest.