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Least Capable Jeep Still Lost In The Woods


Let's be honest here: The Jeep Compass should have never been built - at least not in the form it took. A derivative of the compact Dodge Caliber, the Compass is neither a real Jeep nor an SUV, but a singular testament to how badly Daimler mismanaged the brand over its decade of ownership. And sales have proven this out. Although the Compass did well in the first year after its May 2006 launch, interest quickly cooled, and through the end of 2010, Chrysler had totaled only 111,000 Compass sales. The company managed to move fewer than 16,000 of them last year.

A "softroader," the Compass was meant to compete in the growing field of compact, front-wheel-drive crossovers often derided as "Cute Utes." The misguided, condescending and paternalistic attitude of the Germans running DaimlerChrysler at the time was that young women would flock to the Compass, while its mechanical twin, the Jeep Patriot, was designed for the boys. While the Patriot at least looked like a Jeep - the much-loved, discontinued Cherokee - the googly-eyed Compass was cartoonish, like a Jeep animated for the Powerpuff Girls.

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Gallery: 2011 Jeep Compass: Review



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Review: 2011 Jeep Compass originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 29 Mar 2011 11:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.



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