Please don't take our Quadra-Drive II away . . . .

The Detroit News is reporting, and other sources have confirmed, that Chrysler will retool its Jefferson North assembly plant in Detroit to build a new car-based SUV. The good news? The $1.8 billion investment will result in 400 new jobs, and in Michigan, that’s always good. The bad news? Well . . . the new ‘ute, likely some kind of crossover rig, will bear the name “Grand Cherokee” and will take the place of the current WK in the Chrysler line-up when it goes on sale in 2010.

Now, this is not terribly radical news for Grand Cherokee lovers since, after all, the rig has always been based off a unitbody rather than a traditional body on frame. However, we hope the next-gen model doesn’t lose its transfer case or its current, quite-capable Quadra-Drive 4WD system to save weight and/or improve mpg a click or two. While we applaud Chrysler’s move to pare down its overcrowded SUV roster (can we make the Compass go away?), we’d hate to see the Grand Cherokee---which, while somewhat challenged on the trail (don’t even think of hitting the dirt without removing the front valance)---transformed into some bland, CAFÉ-friendly (Mini)Van Cherokee with nothing stouter than Freedom-Drive AWD to get it over off-road obstacles.

Granted, the current Grand has been a victim of high fuel prices and reduced consumer demand, but when you consider that Jeep’s been selling some variant of a midsize 4x4 SUV since 1984, there's obviously been a place for a vehicle of this type in the Jeep product line, and we’d hope the folks in Auburn Hills think long and hard before turning the time-honored "Cherokee" nameplate into something too, well, un-Jeeplike. Your thoughts, fellow wheelers?