[bumonbox]

I believe Susan's rendering was darn close.

Definitely like this to the current version, makes it much more distinctive.. + the 8 spd. Bring it on, and make sure to have a nice marketing push, this thing can definitely do better sales wise.

Side note: I was just looking at one the other day - the rotors are HUGE!

 

[bumonbox]

The rest of the Durango looks great too. The crosshair shield is gone from the steering wheel. And there is The Knob.

Where is this? Pics online?

 

[bumonbox]

It's an extremely well balanced and pleasing design. No doubling or tripling up of lights and bumpers. No early or last-minute after-thoughts. No pasted-on or ill-fitting parts. Same design team for front and rear. Unmistakeably Dodge. Bravo!

While the rest of us haven't seen all the shots, it does look wonderful from what I've seen. Mind you, i think the Durango was already attractive, but I think they really improved on it in every way so far. And they fixed it's biggest visual weakness which was a bland rear. So, I will be curious to see what demand does - perhaps Jefferson is going to be pushed to it's absolute limits.

 

[bumonbox]

So, Cherokee - Meh
Durango - A+!!!!

While not overhauled, they got every tweak right. An already attractive vehicle, and they made just the right changes.
The interior, once again, already not bad looks even better. The MPG numbers coming out will make it even better. Throw a good marketing campaign behind it, there is no reason this thing can't jump way up in sales (provided they can make enough)

I don't know what the gear ratios are, but I had wondered if they'd be any different to put a bigger emphasis on fuel economy. I noticed the driving range is "better than 600", with a fuel tank of 24 gallons, that's a minimum of 25 MPG, which would be on par with the GC - nothing surprising. But if they geared it even more friendly to fuel economy, I could see it being 26, since they did say "better than". Someone probably already knows here.

 

[bumonbox]

1) engine availability
2) cost of additional testing/certification
3) dilution of initial marketing (use the GC to prove demand for the Durango diesel)

lol.
Heck, and a 4th, which ties into 2, which is that up to this point the Durango hasn't been a big seller.
If they can resolve 1, and 3 proves to be worth it. And Durango sales shoot up decently, Then 3 and 4 resolving would resolve 2.

Moving forward, I will be very surprised if Durango sales fail to pick up. I know people keep saying it's expensive. But it's actually on the lower end of right in line with the competition. It's really not expensive for a large 3 row Crossover or SUV. As long as pricing stays near it's current level, and they market it enough, and they make enough sales should spike up.