Industry experts are predicting that Jeep will drop its full-size Commander SUV after the 2009 model year despite only being introduced just over a year ago. Forecasting analysts at California-based J.D. Power and Associates have stated “we have removed the Commander from our forecast” after the 2009 model year using information gathered from suppliers and other industry sources. The Detroit News reports the prediction is apparently shared by several other automotive analyst firms.

Built at Chrysler's Jefferson North Assembly Plant in Detroit along the popular Grand Cherokee, the Commander is criticized as being too similar to Jeep’s other products and not bringing in different customers. The Commander did manage to rack up 88,497 sales in 2006, but this simply ate into the sales of the Grand Cherokee, which was down 75,000 units on the year before. Jeep also was offering massive discounts on its Commander line, estimated at up to $8,000.

Union officials have also mentioned that the Commander will likely go out of production next year. Slow sales have seen the Jefferson North plant being idled on and off again in previous months, but company officials weren’t willing to discuss future plans.