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Everyone else in the sport-utility game may be gunning for Jeep's CherokeelWagoneer, but they're aiming at a moving target

By Kevin A. Wilson

ust another truck? Hardly. The 1991 Jeep ZJ (revealed here in undisguised prototype form for LC first time) is a crucial step for Chrysler's Jeep/Eagle division. It replaces ihe popular CherolteelWagoneer. There pmbably isn't an exec at a compcling firm today who hasn't cast a covetous eye at the Cherokee and unered, under his breath. "Damn, why didn't we do that first?" Chrysler liked it so much it bought the company-then canceled its own planned rival. eodenamed Rsmbo and based on the Dakota pickup. Of course. it wasn't just the Cherokee Chrysler bought, bul the compact utility was a major attraction. By the seemingly obvious expedient of offering the public what it wanted-+ powerful engine option, compact size fm carlike handling and garageability. and fourdoor convenience--Jeep has tapped directly into the growing number of consumers who choose trucks instead of cars. For these folks, a Cherokee is less a truck than it is the ultimate suburban station wagon, with 4wd for off-road and bad weather security. For these buyers, especially those who want to buy American. C h e d e e is a perfect fit. Some 88 percent chow$ the four-dwr body ml offer& by domestic competitors. Cihers prefer the power advantage Jeep's op tional inline six offers over the fours io competing imports (at 170 hp. the 4.0-liter outmuscles even the more expensive Range

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dmlgn gives w a y acwu to c w ~ hold, o owns down to b u m w the Trwper I1 (which already comes as a four-door) and Mitsubishi working up a four-door V6 Montero. both for '89. When Chrysler bought in. Jeep hnd its response to these threats. the ZJ project. well in hand. The new owners needed only to throw Pentastar dollars at it. The new body resembles today's because consumers shown a more radical, aero-styled prototype preferred the traditional shape. All the same. the ZJ has a clearly fresher, more
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Rover's V8). CherokeeNagrmeer accounlli for over h;df of all Jeep sales and, though offered by fewer dealers, outsells Ford's Bronco I1 and runs neck-and-neck with Ckvy's S10 Bluer ibr segment leadership. The competition isn't conceding anything. though. Within six months of the ZJ's debut in late 1990 or early '91. both Ford and Chevy will have four-dwn challengers. And the Japanese are coming on even faster. with lsuzu putting GM V6s into

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integmtad look than today's squareish Cbcrokw. Its doon wrap into the rnof, (bsrt's mae @as m a , more cum to the side g h , a munded roofline, and a heavier gdlh with clear Jeep identity. Inaidar suggest the ZI-more space-effickat, more luxuriously appointed-will move upsarlret from today's ChemkWWapoem. Cbyskr is spending $800 million on a new assembly complex at its Detroit M c m m Ave. plan to bvild the ZI (ChuoAUTOWEK MAY 9. 1988

kees are now built at the Toledo. Ohio, Jeep f a c i l i t y b a project planned around the nowcaoceled Rambo, but one that dovetails nicely into the new order. Now some insiden advocate keeping today's CherokeeANagoneer in pmduction after the ZI debuts and r e b a d * it as a Dodge truck, perhaps with a different mgine. This would give Dodge an en@y in this segment at minimal expense and without dinctly competing with the new Jeep.

The alternative is a less opulent Dodgehadged Z J .Either way, Chrysler gets two bucks for the price of one. We've no solid word on powerplane for the ZI. If it goes upmarlie(. the inline six might be standard (today's base Chaoked Wagoneer has a 2.5-liter four-bang-). For now it's wait and see. but it's clear already that Jeep isn't about to step aside politely and watch as its rivals eat into thC markd niche defmed by today's Cherokee.
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