I love the old XJ so much. This Cherokee/Liberty still looks awkward to me. A diesel would be great, though. Torque!

who is in charge of designing these? and why does each new one look worse than the last?

Well, they did try it before, with the previous Cherokee. Ahead of their time, I guess:
[baltimore.craigslist.org]

XJ

I do like the color on this one, though.

As a current (first-gen) Liberty owner, the "new" Liberty is a real disappointment. They didn't fix the things I wanted fixed and "fixed" stuff that wasn't broken.
Not offering the diesel sealed the deal - I'm keeping mine till it literally falls apart.

Equipped with the same decades old 3.0 ltr turbo diesel from Mercedes? With little mpg savings compared to modern diesels and with driving power and noises of a cheap truck? Oh wait.. it is a cheap truck.

Torque! Torque! And a six speed? Gotta have. Jeep better sell them in the states. I will retire my XJ if I could get a six speed diesel.

@sos10: Decades old? I thought the Mercedes engine used by Jeep is the 3.0 CRD V6. Don't know much about the MM 2.8, tho.

Hold on there guys. This is the next gen liberty, it is not a replacement for the cherokee, although many of our customers love the "retro" style that reminds them of the old, durable cherokee.

This blue-tech motor is straight MB. In a grand cherokee, it out accelerates ANY of the avail. gas engines, has no noise, no smoke ,and no funny odors. It does all of this while turning 20-25% better fuel mileage.

It does all of this while remaining very inexpensive when compared to its MB counterparts. Resale value on all of the Jeep models with MB diesels has been incredible, too. Something to think about when choosing your next SUV ....

is it just me, or was getting rid of the cherokee nameplate about as stupid as getting rid of the taurus? the cherokee didn't even have a reputation as a crappy rental car...
then again, if they had sold the wimpy, round last-gen liberty as a cherokee in the US, people like myself would probably have set dodge/chrysler/jeep dealers on fire...

I remember that Jalopnik posted, sometime ago, pics of another European diesel vehicle (I don't remember which, or when) that turned out to have been brought into the U.S. by Bosch, not the vehicle's manufacturer. It could be the case with this one, too. The earlier one had a Swiss dealership sticker on the rear, IIRC.

@jjj7088 ["This is the next gen liberty, it is not a replacement for the cherokee, although many of our customers love the "retro" style that reminds them of the old, durable cherokee."]: I'm confused. It's the Patriot, not the Liberty (current- or previous-generation) that reminds me of the Cherokee.

Here's a news flash for you folks: The CRD engines in the diesel Jeeps come from VM Motori in Italy, not Mercedes-Benz.

[www.vmmotori.it]

This is nothing more than an export-spec test mule. The manual trans just reinforces that idea (most likely the diesel would only be offered with an auto here), and the Cherokee badge on the door proves it.

@gotsmart: Here's a news flash for you: The current/new 3.0L CRD Bluetec in the 2008 US-spec WK Grand Cherokee is a Benz motor, not a VMM motor.

@jjj7088: And don't forget the diesel Grand Cherokee is an SUV even the Brits have reviewed positively. That *really* surprised.

I'll make mine a desert-beige JT with a 6-spd manny tranny and a CRD. Come and get me, doomsday.

I am anxious to see the torque on this Diesel model. Currently, there is nothing in the American Jeep line up that will persuade me to trade in my 285 lb. ft. of torque in a 4200 lb sedan.

As far as the rest of the comments above, it would not surprise me if this were a European Cherokee testing on these shores. The satin gray grill does not look like the options available in the US market.

In case it's not clear: outside the US, Liberty = Cherokee.

The 2.8L last-gen Liberty Diesel was by VM (italian) and the current CRD Grand Cherokee and Commander use the 3.0L MB Blutec.

And in The Name of All That's Holy, put a diesel in the Wrangler.

@smokyburnout: ditto

My next vehicle will be a diesel. It's becoming apparent that my only real options are going to be made by VW.

Putting a diesel in the Wrangler seems like such a no brainer. I mean they are slappin them in basically everything else BUT the Wrangler. Tell me how a liberty and now the Grand Cherokee get the goods but the Wrangler gets shafted.

Then again this is the same company the said "Hey lets get rid of the iconic round headlamps O||||O and use rectangles"