TAKE THE HIGH COUNTRY; Chrysler's first SUV arrives, just in time for the great SUV die-off.(News)

Byline: MARK VAUGHN

First, an item of housekeeping. The nice new full-size Chrysler Aspen you see here has nothing to do with the Dodge Aspen you may have tried to get fixed back in 1977. That rattly sedan had rust galore, electrical nightmares that wouldn't end and was, ultimately, the most recalled car in history (up to that point).

Now that that's out of the way, let's ask why Chrysler is even building this albeit perfectly fine full-size SUV in the middle of the SUV plummet. Because Chrysler dealers didn't have an SUV, and 25 percent of their customers were leaving to buy one. And they weren't buying Dodge Durangos or Jeep Commanders when they went, either, because those sport/utilities didn't offer the "prestige'' those buyers sought. Hence the prestigious Chrysler Aspen.

Don't tell anyone, but it is built on the un-prestigious Durango platform, which is a nice platform, as it was all-new just two years ago. The Aspen is a full-size SUV that feels a little smaller than full size behind the wheel. While SUV size labels make as much sense as the coffee cups at Starbucks, suffice it to say that in wheelbase and curb weight, Aspen's "full-size'' tag places it between the Expedition and Explorer, the Suburban and Tahoe, and kind of close to a Sequoia while smaller than an Armada. In any case, it doesn't seem ungainly huge when you drive it.

It seats up to eight adults in three rows-the three seating options include seven-passenger seating standard-and offers a load-happy 68.4 cubic feet of cargo space when the third-row seats are folded flat.

Almost all the features that buyers want in these large utes are present on the options list: power rear liftgate, remote start, ...