Liberty rolls toward end of line

Home Business Automotive A 2011 Liberty is taken for a test drive at the Monroe Dodge Chrysler Jeep Ram Superstore in Monroe. THE BLADE/AMY E. VOIGT Enlarge Loading

Published: 7/29/2012

BY TYREL LINKHORN BLADE BUSINESS WRITER

At its introduction in 2001, the Jeep Liberty had a tall mountain to climb. It was replacing the capable and very well-received Jeep Cherokee -- a vehicle that practically invented the small sport utility vehicle segment.

And the Liberty was doing it in a way that proved a bit controversial. Instead of sharp lines, the Liberty had curves. It was heavier. It traded the bulletproof straight six for a four-cylinder or V-6 engine. The Jeep enthusiast crowd saw it as near affront to the slab-sided utilitarian Cherokee.

"The first-generation Liberty was criticized for having gone really soft," said Ed Kim, vice president of industry analysis at AutoPacific. "Some members of the press sort of derided it for being a girly Jeep, being too cute, being not masculine enough, even though in terms of its rugged hardware, it was every bit as capable as the previous-generation Cherokee."

Regardless of those perceptions, buyers scooped up more than 171,000 of the Toledo-built Liberty in its first full year. That was about 30,000 more units than the Cherokee sold in its last full year in 2001.

Since then, more than 1.25 million Libertys have been sold.

Now, after an 11-year run and one major redesign, the Liberty as we know it will soon come to an end. Chrysler Group LLC hasn't officially said when production will cease, but union officials and supplier contracts confirm that Aug. 16 will be Liberty's last day.

Its replacement -- officially unnamed as yet -- is expected to be vastly different from the outgoing Liberty.

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Liberty rolls toward end of line