2 door vs. 4 door sales

[OldGuyNewJeep]

Trying to get through some 2-door owners is like talking to a 3-year old

What the heck are you trying to “get through?” That 4drs are carrying sales? Yeah, we know. We get it. Cool. I saw no one say 4drs shouldn’t exist or that you shouldn’t prefer one. I certainly didn’t - I said I don’t want or need one.

When I was younger and needed to haul people I had a minivan. Now I have a Yukon XL for that because I’m older and I can afford to have that *and* a toy. You chose a Wrangler to haul people and stuff. Awesome. I’ll wave to you and all the rest. I bought mine for fun.

Saying that I somehow just don’t understand that what I really want is a 4dr, but somehow can’t see it - that “I had nothing better to do that day” - is idiotic. Ergo, you must be an idiot.

I don’t need nor want a 4dr. If you do, bully for you. I would never presume to tell you otherwise, but that seems to be a one way street.

Enjoy eating your crayons. I hear cyan tastes best.

Sponsored

 

[Dash68]

I'm not sure when the term "practical" became to mean something bigger. I hear this same thought on various truck forums. There is a large group of people who would like to buy a regular cab long bed pickup truck but they are seldom placed on dealer lots for sale and in most cases have to be special ordered to get one. I hear that 4 door crew cab pickup trucks with tiny cargo beds are way more "practical" and that is why they are the most popular vehicle sold in the U.S. now. A 4 door crew cab pickup truck with a tiny bed will never be practical for someone who intends to actually use a pickup truck for its original intended purpose of being useful at performing work. They have become the replacement for the family sedan or station wagon due to CAFE regulations and it has nothing to do with practicality and more to do with US auto manufacturer's ability to produce a profitable product in a market that has had the competition limited for them. The same factors are the reason we no longer have small or midsized pickups with small wheelbases, why we will not be able to buy a gas powered J6, and has been playing out in the Jeep Wranglers product line for some time and is the main reason we have a 4 door wrangler now. It is also the reason why production of the smaller wheelbase JL is limited by the manufacturer.

The researchers and marketing professionals that work for Ford, GM, and Chrysler have done an excellent job at convincing U.S. auto consumers that bigger is more practical, efficient, and is a better "value" and, as such, all consumers are expected to conform to this way of thinking, not ask questions, and simply except what is be marketed to them as truth because 'they' have done the research, market analysis, and have determined what we want and what is best for us as consumers. If they can convince us to buy something that we really don't need and they can make a larger profit doing so, what we really want or need is little concern to them. The U.S. auto industry has become "supersized" in an era when, we as a country, were supposed to be tasked with making vehicles more fuel efficient.

Production number's of 2 and 4 door Wranglers are partially based on corporate average fuel economy across Chyslers entire product line. The only reason one can now buy a Wrangler with the 392 is due to the production of the 4xe. The 392 Wranglers production will be limited and is the reason why it is the highest priced Wrangler ever. The 4xe price will be more obtainable for more consumers and has to be to help offset CAFE penalties that are applied to the 392 and is why we will see a fully electric 2 door Wrangler soon and possibly the return of small wheelbase electric pickup trucks in the near future.

https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2012/10/how-cafe-killed-compact-trucks-and-station-wagons/

 

[aldo98229]

I just think of the line from Anchorman ... “that escalated quickly”

my post was more of a concern as to the long-term future of the 2 door, based on the fact that at some point if the sales percentage remains down, it may not make financial sense for Stellantis to continue production beyond the run of the JL.

Both versions are great and have their own market.

Indeed.

I could guess where FCA sat on all of this, but I have no clue about Stellantis. They seem to be a smart bunch of people, FWIW.

 

[aldo98229]

What the heck are you trying to “get through?” That 4drs are carrying sales? Yeah, we know. We get it. Cool. I saw no one say 4drs shouldn’t exist or that you shouldn’t prefer one. I certainly didn’t - I said I don’t want or need one.

When I was younger and needed to haul people I had a minivan. Now I have a Yukon XL for that because I’m older and I can afford to have that *and* a toy. You chose a Wrangler to haul people and stuff. Awesome. I’ll wave to you and all the rest. I bought mine for fun.

Saying that I somehow just don’t understand that what I really want is a 4dr, but somehow can’t see it - that “I had nothing better to do that day” - is idiotic. Ergo, you must be an idiot.

I don’t need nor want a 4dr. If you do, bully for you. I would never presume to tell you otherwise, but that seems to be a one way street.

Enjoy eating your crayons. I hear cyan tastes best.

OldGuyNewJeep

 

[Crawldad]

JLU's can tow more, so i see that as an important niche.
i still prefer 2dr. i think they are slightly better on gas mileage (weight being the biggest factor) . i actually yank the rear seat out and run mine like a small pickem up truck. not really interested in hard tops either, or leather seats. not really interested in cosmetics either... just a funmobile to bip around in, a utility vehicle i can add stuff to without too much troubles, i can be comfortable. my old 2000 that i drove up to 150k miles was like a nice faded set of blue jeans. throw 'em on and go.

i can see the younger crowd with kids wanting an adventure-mobile to get the kids out camping, fishing and whatnot. so the 4dr suits them better.

i see 2dr owners making fun of 4dr's as disrepectful. bad character. schmucks.

a better use of time than making fun of others on the internet would be: go out, get in your jeep, go on an adventure, have fun.

 

[RoadiJeff]

When we bought our first Jeep it was a 2013 JK. We had it for over 7 years and we'd occasionally make wisecracks when we'd see a JKU such as, "Look, that poor Jeep got caught in a taffy machine and stretched out".

Wife traded it in on a JLU last year and she says she will never go back to a 2dr. She likes the added carrying capacity, how smooth it drives plus other things. And she's stopped making the taffy wisecrack comments.

 

[entropy]

You know from my experience (I own a 2 door). I fish, camp, hunt, hike, kayak, ski, mtb. We use the JL as our adventure vehicle for all that stuff. I have a kid now and I am keeping the 2 door, got a small camper to go camping and everything.

The thing is. You know how you see all those hipsters living in tiny homes and saying we dont need all that space blah blah blah. You see them do all this crazy stuff, folding beds that also function as dining tables, kayaks hanging from unthinkable corners, kitchens that pop of thin air. It is cool and makes you think about it. But would you like to live like that? constantly trying to figure out where to fit all that crap? no... it sucks. Well having a 2D JL is kinda like that, being honest lol.

The 4 door sells more because it is more realistically practical for todays american family.

 

[four low]

Here's how to make your own Srambler ; 4 door, remove rear seats ; replace rear doors with half doors ; make a bulkhead ( or not ) ; get a wrap around Roadster top with windbreaker and extended tonneau.
Almost instant Scrambler. Half doors give access to area directly behind rear seat, front of cargo area, bulkhead would be midline of half doors. Almost a 6' box..

 

[aro]

My previous JK was a 2 door and I never regretted getting it. I'm not somebody who offroads with an RTT and a small kitchen in the back, so space was never a problem. (Tent cot, Mountain House and I'm all set).

My JL is a 4 door for one single reason: it behaves better on the road at higher speed. Otherwise, I would have gotten a 2 door. I love how nimble it is on the trail.

 

[daveprice7]

Here's how to make your own Srambler ; 4 door, remove rear seats ; replace rear doors with half doors ; make a bulkhead ( or not ) ; get a wrap around Roadster top with windbreaker and extended tonneau.
Almost instant Scrambler. Half doors give access to area directly behind rear seat, front of cargo area, bulkhead would be midline of half doors. Almost a 6' box..

This is like the ol JK Mopar conversion, or the one from gr8tops.. https://gr8tops.com/shop/jeepmodels/jk-wrangler/jeep-wrangler-jkute-truck-conversion-kit

It's priced out of my budget, even if they made one for the JL, but I love the idea.

Truthfully, your idea of the rear half doors, seat delete and maybe and a soft top in safari mode with some kind of basic windjammer type panel to enclose the cab would get me close enough. That's a really desperate stab at cobbling together what should be a factory option, and probably would end up feeling pretty janky.

It's a shame the JLU rear seats don't pull out easily like the JL (or at least fold flat)... That would open up a very viable "drop-in bed" type product (even if it were plastic.. Like a thick drop-in bed liner). Then they'd just need to figure out how to weatherproof the back of the cab. The rear half door trick would complete the look, but wouldn't exactly be required. Going from family wagon to mini-pickup would be just like switching tops. They could advertise the hell out of that... Who doesn't want an occasional pickup?

 

[cosine]

i dont think that jeep will drop the 2 door wrangler due to the long history that it has. granted, the 2 door sales are low due to the 4 doors and dealerships are geared more to what the customers are looking for. i did look at a 4 door wrangler and yes i did like it. however i did not like al the bells and whistles on the sport s. let alone the price tag. now i would of gone with a 4 door base model sport, but to my surprise. i found a base model 2 door sitting at a dealer. so i decided check it out and came home with it. this is my daily driver and road tripper. its coming up on the 3 year mark and have no regrets.

 

[LarryB]

i dont think that jeep will drop the 2 door wrangler due to the long history that it has. granted, the 2 door sales are low due to the 4 doors and dealerships are geared more to what the customers are looking for. i did look at a 4 door wrangler and yes i did like it. however i did not like al the bells and whistles on the sport s. let alone the price tag. now i would of gone with a 4 door base model sport, but to my surprise. i found a base model 2 door sitting at a dealer. so i decided check it out and came home with it. this is my daily driver and road tripper. its coming up on the 3 year mark and have no regrets.

I also think that Stellantis will need to see much lower 2 door sales to even consider dropping it. However, they see Jeep (along with Ram) as being 2 main drivers for profit and there is a significant cost to move to the “JM” (or whatever it is called) version of the 2 door in 8-10 years. It may mean they move towards a combined platform with the 4 door, an increased product cost or sharing the new platform with another Stellantis product.

 

[DavidArmen]

_______________
* For instance, right now there are 5 different sets of fenders: Sport/Willys get one kind, Sahara gets another kind, Rubicon has two kinds, and High Altitude gets its own type of fenders. Yet 90% of buyers can’t even tell these differences. The same goes for the grilles, bumpers, armrests, etc.

Could you elaborate on Rubicons having two different kinds of fenders? What are the differences?

 

[Chris2183]

Could you elaborate on Rubicons having two different kinds of fenders? What are the differences?

You can get them in black plastic like the Sport or you can get them color keyed like the Sahara. Rubicon fenders are also shaped slightly differently (high line) to accommodate the larger diameter stock tire and are not used on any other trim during assembly.

Basically if Jeep were to standardize the high line fender across all models then it would reduce the amount of fenders down to two, either black abs or painted.

 

[Trill]

Could you elaborate on Rubicons having two different kinds of fenders? What are the differences?

There are technically 4 kinds, painted or unpainted with LED or halogen. All have different part numbers. Not including export models which are also different.

Sponsored