The last time I looked fairly seriously at a Jeep, the "base price" was about 30% more than a more or less comparable Chevy or Ford. This was so long ago that "UTEs" hadn't appeared.

Then I found out that for the Jeep, the seats, steering wheel, and tailgate (among other things) all were "extra cost options."

To get to a usable, more or less comparable, Jeep would have run very close to double the price of the closest Chevy Blazer (not a particularly great vehicle, but it served well enough).

Prices then were more nearly comparable in the used market, but still with a noticeable premium for the Jeep. (i.e. Jeeps depreciated faster than anything else?)

Things may have changed some in 20 years. I don't know since I haven't looked again.

John