Content provided in partnership with

Automotive Industry

Sacrilege! Jeep Ponders The "Soft-Road" Vehicle - Brief Article

Automotive Industries, Oct, 2000 by Lindsay Brooke

Is Jeep's 60-year tradition -- and brand image -- heading for a fundamental change? Possibly, if recent discussions within DaimlerChrysler end up as future production vehicles.

Last month, the question of whether Jeep should develop a vehicle with less off-road capability -- a so-called "soft-roader" in the mold of Toyota's RAV4 and the Honda CR-V--was debated in a high-level DC meeting at the company's U.S. headquarters. The meeting was attended by the automaker's top marketing executives from its various product brands.

Most Popular Articles in Autos: Service Slants; 2007 utility vehicle buyer's guide: Side-By-Sides are popular; here's who ...; Transmission considerations: beyond the manual gearbox; Buell Motorcycle engineering, innovation, & dedication: in an industry ...; 100 + 10: America's oldest automotive magazine celebrates its 110th year ...; More »

"We were talking about how you can 'stretch' a brand," one of the meeting's participants tells Automotive Industries. Then it got lively, the participant says, when a Jeep division executive posed questions: "Will customers accept a Jeep that's a 'soft-roader'? Does every future Jeep model have to be capable of traversing the famous Rubicon Trail?"

Surprisingly, the reaction from the group to these questions was split about 50-50, says the source. Those amenable to a "soft-road" Jeep argued the realities of the SUV market, where most owners never take their vehicles off the pavement. They noted the added cost of a Jeep's extra hardware, including the low-range transfer case.

Advocates of "real" Jeeps countered that as soon as the brand goes "soft-road" (with viscous-coupled drivelines and a pavement-biased chassis), it will lose its distinction in the market "It's a slippery slope and, for Jeep, a profound decision," says the source.

Except for a few 2-wheel drive models in the past, Jeep has always held tight to its supreme off-road capability. Such credentials helped separate it from the tidal wave of new, less capable competitors. And they helped make Jeep one of the best-known automotive names in the world.

When he was vice-chairman of Chrysler Corp., Bob Lutz mandated that every new Jeep vehicle slated for production had to prove itself by traversing the Rubicon Trail, the tortuous 22-mile path in the California mountains that separates true off-road vehicles from the pretenders. Lutz believed that without "Rubiconibility" a Jeep just wasn't the real deal that God and the U.S. Army intended.

"We still have that same design philosophy," asserts Heather May, manager of Jeep Platform public relations. While she stops short of confirming that Lutz's mandate is still in force, May explains that Jeep engineers regularly use the Rubicon, and equally tough areas in Moab, Utah, and Murphy, N.C. for verification tests.

The question of a "softer" Jeep comes at a time of great pressure for the Jeep brand. Over 50 SUV nameplates are now gunning for it in the U.S. market. And Ford Motor Co. is coming after Jeep like a panzer division with its sights on Jeep's icon, the Wrangler. Ford has given its Land Rover division support for a new, less expensive but supremely off-roadable Defender, its basic 4x4 descended from the WWII jeep.

Automotive Industry

Sacrilege! Jeep Ponders The "Soft-Road" Vehicle - Brief Article

Automotive Industries, Oct, 2000 by Lindsay Brooke

Find Research Guides for:

Find Featured Titles for: Technology

Most Popular Articles in Autos

Most Popular Publications in Autos