What amazes me, however, is that the media – on both the left AND the right – is confused about why Chrysler (or let’s get real: The Treasury Dept.) wants to can almost 800 loyal ChryslerCo dealers today.

First, a couple of disclaimers – my wife and I both drive Jeeps, I’m a big fan of the Wrangler, and I used to work for an agency that did ads for car dealers, exclusively.

Congressmen, pundits and TV talking heads are all up in arms about the dealer bloodletting, claiming there’s no reason to kill off dealerships, and that “fewer dealers means fewer sales.”

Balderdash.

Here’s the deal, campers: Not only does Chrysler have too many models that overlap each other, they also have way too many dealers to sell the cars that DO sell to the public. (And keep in mind, everything that’s wrong with Chrysler is 10 times worse when you talk about GM.) It’s a little concept called cannibalization, all part of the laws of supply and demand. Let’s say in your city, you can sell 10,000 cars per month. Okay. Only a certain number of those sales – lets say…um…1,700 of ‘em will be a Chrysler product. Keep in mind, there are no fixed prices in the auto industry. Every dealer competes against every other dealer. Also remember that dealers are required to buy a certain number of cars from the manufacturer per month, need ‘em or not. So you have a situation where dealers are, shall we say, highly motivated to sell every car they can. Now if you have only one or two Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep dealers in a given metro area, you will have less competition. The number of cars you can sell into that market won’t change – only a certain percentage will buy Chrylers, Dodges, or Jeeps, regardless of how many dealers exist. But fewer dealers means less competition for the dealers that sell a particular brand, and therefore improve the odds of those dealers making a profit. Too many dealers cannibalize sales, reduce profit margins, and make it that much harder for dealers to survive.

Now, none of this has ANYTHING to do with how the dealers that will be axed have been chosen. As for me, the whole Chrysler deal stinks on ice – there’s no way that bond holders should have to take 29 cents on the dollar, no way any union should end up with ANY ownership stake in a bankrupt company, and no way that our government should be calling the tune so that they can pay back political patrons. But regardless of the corruption in place that has dictated which dealers live and which die, killing off a bunch of dealerships isn’t just a good idea – it’s essential to giving whatever survives from ChryslerCo a fighting chance to prosper.

From a marketing point of view, this is pretty easy to understand – reduce competition = increased profit. But since the ObamaNation has chosen to politicize the process, I can’t really blame people for being a bit confused about why dealers are going away.

Jeep. There's Only One.

And then there were two. ChryCerebus has turned the page to Chapter 11 (as opposed to turning the corner), and what’s left looks a lot like Crissis-ler. The conventional wisdom is that Chrysler is toast (the brand, not the company), Dodge is on the bubble, and Jeep is the only brand that has actual worth in a Detroit-style fire sale. Fair enough. For the sake of argument, let’s pretend that, with the bankruptcy, Chrysler is able to shed it’s legacy costs and indentured servitude to the unions union contracts, and can either move forward as a leaner, meaner company, or sell its assets in liquidation. With the Chrysler brand D.O.A., and Dodge coughing up blood, let’s examine the best way to save Jeep, either as a stand-alone company or as something worth acquiring, and allow me make an out in left-field proposal for who should buy Jeep, wheel-lock, stock and barrel.

Jeep is the quintessential American brand. Nothing says “all-purpose, tough-as-nails, durable and reliable vehicle” like Jeep. Or at least it did, until the Chrysler brain trust started mucking about with the time-tested, Trail-Rated® formula. But something in Chrysler’s history points the way to the way out for Jeep: Lee Iacocca’s humble K Car.

Set your WABAC machines for the start of the Lee Iacocca era, and how he saved Chrysler. He ruthlessly cut scope, found a single, simple platform upon which to build the future, and then rode that horse for all it was worth. What was a K Car? It could be practically anything…from pocket rocket to a scaled down Family Truckster, the K Car was a chameleon for Chrysler. I owned one – a Chrysler Laser – complete with a 4-banger turbo. Got over 130,000 miles out of that whip before I sold it and bought…a Chysler Le Baron convertible. So using that logic, I give you the future of Jeep, and the K Car for the new Millenium: The Jeep Wrangler/Wrangler Unlimited.

Before you scoff, look at what Jeep has already done with the Wrangler. Born of an all-purpose vehicle from WWII, the Wrangler has evolved into the ultimate off-road/utility vehicle. You can get a Wrangler in 2- or 4-doors, in 2- or 4-wheel drive, and in a removable T-top/hardtop, ragtop, or both. Where “cheap plastic interior” might be a problem in a Chrysler or Dodge, it’s a huge advantage in a Wrangler. Fill it full o’ mud? Divert a garden hose (or a river) inside, and hose that puppy out good as new.

What you may not know is that Jeep has been sitting on an Unlimited-based pickup for years. They already make one – for the Egyptian Army. That brings up interesting possibilities for Future Jeep.

What’s to stop Jeep from releasing a hardtop 2-door Unlimited configured as a pickup, or a hardtop 4-door Unlimited with an open cargo area like the Hummer SUT? With a ladder frame, there’s little to prevent them from bolting on other body configurations – say, a panel truck or a flatbed. Jeep’s got the rep – and the goods – to be a credible entry into the work truck market, and a modified JK platform offers immediate entry into the game.

But what of the rest of the line? Kill the Compass, the Patriot, and the Commander. Mothball the Liberty for some time in the future when the market will bear a “cute ute.” (Not the new one, but the older body style, that looked more Wrangleresque than the current “Nitro beaten with an even-uglier stick”), As the industry buzz says they have a segment-killer in the 2011 Grand Cherokee, keep that in the pipeline as a hedge against the future.

So let’s say we’re successful in refocusing Jeep. Who owns/runs the company? Current management has proved themselves incompetent. The union? Gimme a break. The obvious solution is to sell the Jeep division. But to whom? My choice (as insane as this will sound): Ford.

Ford has a history with the Wrangler’s forebearers – they made Jeeps right alongside Willys-Overland back in WWII. They took their medicine early, and as a result have resisted government handouts. And they are the OTHER quintessential American brand. Ford is the only domestic playa left standing. But aside from that, Jeep gives Ford something they don’t have – a credible off-road presence. It’s a better strategy than selling it to another Eurotrash buyer, or allowing the Obama Nation to create some sort of Frankensteinian American Leyland out of the salvaged parts from Chrysler and GM.

To see why Jeep is worth saving, you have but to look at the resale value of any Wrangler. America needs Jeep, but not as a Welfare Queen, but as a shining example of Capitalism, Know-How, and the American Way. Here’s to hoping that Chapter 11 won’t be the final chapter in the Jeep saga.