February 23, 2013 11:36 AM
... you've got to embrace being the SUV leader and lead by
design.
... you've got to eschew the traditional and embrace the
progressive.
... you've got to listen to the customer, saying keep capability,
but give us more fuel economy (and a better on-road driver).
... you've got to listen to the experts, telling you to further
grow and build the Brand that has perhaps the most equity of any
worldwide.
The 2014 Jeep® Cherokee is that time.
Customers, through extensive research, are strongly telling us
that. Media are saying same. And our dealers - critical in the past
- are onboard as well.
Like our Sr VP of Design recently tweeted, "Have Faith. We are
shifting some paradigms around ... it is time."
Check us out in New York, hear the whole story, see both models
we'll offer, even drive it and see if you agree we've made the
vehicle that does it all.
Posts
There Comes a Time When...
by Rick Deneau
2 Comments
moparnorm Feb 24, 2013, 2:51 PM
Sad reaction to a firestorm of critism going viral on the web. Too bad Jeepers were not included in that focus group and calling it "Cherokee" just adds insult to injury. Jeeper are your most loyal customers, you just disrespected us.
spg900ny Feb 26, 2013, 11:36 AM
I just posted this to the Jeep LinkedIn group. @moparnorm is
100% correct -- this is at least partly about RESPECT for the
Cherokee name.
-------
I've been thinking probably too much about this over the last day
or so, since the photos came out. The argument people make for this
Cherokee is that Jeep needs to cater to those people who aren't
Jeep purists, and they needed to push the styling forward. I guess
I have a couple responses to that. My first response is that's
fine, but then why slap a name on it that is sure to push buttons
with the brand's most entrenched loyalists? Just to get back to
global consistency? My second response is that Jeep is the most
successful brand in the Chrysler portfolio. I know you don't want
to stay stagnant, but you're telling me that with all the designers
in house at Jeep/Chrysler that you couldn't come up with something
that honors the Cherokee's heritage yet pushes the envelope a
little? Something that doesn't crap all over the name "Cherokee?"
Take a look at
this: http://www.carscoops.com/2013/02/this-is-actual-2013-saab-9-3-phoenix.html.
It's what the new Saab 9-3 was going to be before the company went
bankrupt. Saab and Jeep have some similarities with their brands
and the people who buy them. They both have a very rich heritage,
and they both have purists who will complain loudly whenever new,
bold changes are made to product designs. When Jason Castriota was
given the reigns to redesign what was going to be the new 9-3, he
was given very specific instructions -- push the brand forward, yet
honor its heritage. I think this design did that. It satisfied the
purists who wanted a hatchback, but it was also a very modern,
tasteful design. I don't know if the Saab faithful would have
bought them, since most of us who bought modern GM-based Saabs were
very happy to buy second-hand at a big discount after the
executives who drove them first took the "new car" hit, but I do
think that design would have brought some new blood into the brand.
Jeep has a lot more luxury here in regard to new blood. The brand
doesn't need a whole lot of new blood - yet. It's still a very
successful brand. So why the need to make SO RADICAL a change? And
why the need to label it "Cherokee?" The only explanation I can
find is one that has already been offered -- mismangement. Chrysler
has a lot of explaining to do here.
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