Echoing a sentiment expressed by many TTAC readers, Advertising Age [sub] wonders if Jeep faces death by line extension. The mag suggests that Jeep's move from three models to seven in less than three years is ill-advised. Chrysler's excuse rationale: Jeep is the only of their three brands showing a sales increase; they need to capitalize on that momentum. And, lest we forget, most Americans don't drive off-road. As one Chrysler exec stated, "Now we have something for everybody." Consultant Gary Topolewski, formerly Jeep's top creative, says the brand is losing its toughness. He thinks the current "Have Fun Out There" ad campaign is too "cute" to jibe with Jeep's longtime image as the tough, go-anywhere vehicle. Jeep just doesn't seem to realize that once you lose an iconic image, you can never get it back. Just ask Cadillac.
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Jeep is was one of the absolute strongest brands of anything, a prime example of why the automobile is one of the best mediums for concentrated branding efforts. They made beefy, stripped down off-roaders with dreadful road manners and unconventional looks and people bought them like crazy. Everybody wants a piece of the Jeep image; the overengineered capability so you know you won’t get stuck in your driveway after a snowstorm. They’ve done serious damage to this brand cachet by offering the abysmal Compass/Patriot, and the Commander showed up about 2 years late to the Mega-SUV party. I love my Cherokee, which I never take off-road, but every time I see a Compass (which isn’t often) it hurts my heart a little bit.
I just don’t get the Compass and Patriot. What’s the difference. Why would I get the Compass if I could buy the Patriot or vice versa…
Aren’t they both pretty pathetic at off-roading anyways?
To paraphrase Yogi Berra, “There are no Jeeps anymore; they make too many kinds of them.”
Keep the Patriot, the Wrangler, the Wranger 4-Door, and the Grand Cherokee. And add a Wrangler pickup.
Justin Berkowitz:
Really? Keep the Patriot? El barfo. They’d have to seriously upgrade it’s off-road potential. I think the Liberty fits better with the Jeep family just because it kind of has a Cherokee pedigree and is fairly capable off-road.
Actually now that it’s a Nitro I guess I kind of hate it. Jeep isn’t a good platform-sharing brand; too niche.
What they should do, imho, is mash to Patriot and the Liberty together, make a compact capable tallwagon like the Cherokee, call it the Cherokee, and sell it to me so’s I can smother it with love. With a straight 6 and a diesel 4 option.
Wrangler truck or Wrangler 4-door. That is where my money will be going on my next new car purchase.
@kazoomaloo:
You win. I hate the Liberty, but love the idea of a cherokee. I just think they need something a little more on-roadable than the Wrangler for the people that aren’t diehards.
And don’t taunt me with your talk of diesel engines and straight sixes. It’s 11AM, I’ve only had 2 cups of coffee, and I am in no mood for this fantasy nonsense. We’ll get heavy and thirsty V6 engines and we’ll like them. Ugh.
As one Chrysler exec stated, “Now we have something for everybody.”
I can only hope that this bozo, whoever s/he may be, is no longer on the payroll.
What a maroon. Anybody with a hint of marketing savvy knows that a strong niche brand is not supposed to have something for everybody. That’s what a “niche” is!
A brand such as Dodge is supposed to have something for everyone in the mainstream space, but a maker of 4WD vehicles is clearly not meant to be a mainstream player. We can only hope that said executive was the Executive Vice President of Janitorial Services, or in some department where s/he can’t do any harm. Oh, wait a minute, the harm has already been done…
Jeep really needs the Gladiator concept (Wrangler truck) and ditch the FWD turdbuckets. Not making the Gladiator is like snatching defeat from the hands of victory.
canfood:
October 8th, 2007 at 10:06 am
I just don’t get the Compass and Patriot. What’s the difference? Why would I get the Compass if I could buy the Patriot or vice versa…
Aren’t they both pretty pathetic at off-roading anyways?
—-
kazoomaloo:
October 8th, 2007 at 10:39 am
Justin Berkowitz:
Really? Keep the Patriot? El barfo. They’d have to seriously upgrade it’s off-road potential.
=====
The Patriot is very off road capable and doesn’t need a serious upgrade in that area, unless you want to go on the Rubicon Trail (I’ve always wanted to know, who would take their $37,000 Grand Cherokee on that and risk scratching it up?).
From Edmunds:
http://www.edmunds.com/jeep/patriot/review.html
“Billed as the rugged entry-level Jeep, the Patriot is offered with several off-road features. The Patriot’s AWD system can be enhanced with “hill-descent control,” an electronic system that automatically modulates the brakes to maintain a low speed on steep declines, and an extra-low “off road” gear, which is only offered in models equipped with the CVT. There’s also the Freedom Drive II Off-Road Group package that also adds skid plates, front and rear tow hooks and a full-size spare tire.”
From Motor Trend:
http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/suvs/112_0704_2007_jeep_patriot/
“Fast off-roading is what Jeep offered in the Patriot first drive. It wasn’t the sort of trail that would make a Wrangler sweat, but likely would’ve stranded competitors like the Honda CR-V and Toyota RAV4, Hyundai Tucson, and Ford Escape four-bangers. ”
The Compass can’t do what the Patriot can off-road. Patriot also has more ground clearence than Compass.
For me I would like to keep Patriot, get rid of Compass and Commander. That leaves Wrangler, Patriot, Liberty, and Grand Cherokee. Four is enough. If the Patriot doesn’t work out, merge it with the Liberty (the new Cherokee).
I second the idea of a small pickup, but only if it can be engineered off an existing platform such as Wrangler. A Jeep pickup would be a niche vehicle in a niche brand. You can’t spend huge engineering bucks on such a vehicle.
Or, they could kill everything but the Wrangler and build the Rescue.
http://jeepin.com/news/rescue/index.asp
As long as these silly extras to the lineup (Compass, Patriot, Commander, etc) are short lived, I see no problem with them. If you look back in Jeep’s history, you’ll see many short diversions from their core, but as long as the CJ, YJ, TJ, JK lineage is kept true to the idea of a Jeep they’ll be fine.
A quick run through Jeep’s non-core adventures:
FJ3 (Van)
VJ (Jeepster)
C101, C104 (Commando)
Gladiator (Truck)
Honcho (Truck)
Forward Control (Weird VW-like Truck)
MJ (Comanche)
Plus many more short runs of weird vehicles that I can’t quite remember now.
“iconic image”, jeeez give me a break already!
I guess all of those el cheapo Jeep labeled radios and other products gracing the shelves of just about any discount store in the USA really help out the Jeep brand identity?
Better yet the whole SUV craze did everything in its power to destroy image of the SUV/ 4×4 as any kind of serious vehicle, Jeep brand included.
Chysler needs Jeep to be more than just a niche player. There aint too much market for a brand/ delearship that has a line strictly made up of off-road capable vehicles. GM is having the same problem with its Hummer brand. BOth companies need to pull their collective heads out of their butts and start dealing with reality here. 99% of the customers for these products could careless about the off-road abilty of their Jeep labeled product but they do care about how nicely it drives down the highway. So like it or not vehicles like the Compass make a great deal of sense. This is were the RAV4 started at and it has been a runaway hit. Unlike the Compass the RAV4 was done right and did not come to market looking like some half-a$$ed POS!
Once again we see the glaring contrast between the home grown team and those awful imports, Domestics: many silly brands based on “iconic” image, it cost $$$$$$ to support this model. Toyota: we sell it all under one roof, and they are all competitive, class leading including our SUVs and 4x4s, it cost $ to support this model.
As much as I do not agree with many of the vehicles Jeep is currently offering (the Compass, the Commander and the Patriot to be exact), I don’t think that the inflation of vehicles in their lineup is going to be the brand’s downfall.
Yes yes, lots of brand “experts” and books (and this website) extoll the virtues of finding a clear niche and sticking to it as THE way to build and foster a brand. Anyone who has studied marketing has been told of the corrosive effects of creating products that are “off brand” in an attempt to woo the mass market. From the Coke/Pepsi wars to the downfall of Caddy, numerous examples are cited of companies losing their mojo in the pursuit of wider sales to a mass audience.
Where all those often cited examples differ from Jeep’s current position is that Jeep STILL makes tremendous “On Brand” vehicles; the Wrangler and Wrangler Unlimited. In fact, from what I have seen from Jeep fans is that the new JK series is probably the best Wranglers ever made; even surpassing the vaunted CJ in the hardcore function department. If you are a dedicated Wrangler driver, you might look across the showroom and feel a bit of sadness when you see the poseur vehicles with the Jeep brand on them, but is that going to stop you from buying the JK Wrangler? Nope.
Porsche did something similar with the 911 and Cayanne. When Porsche fans (including Mr Farrago) got wind of Porsche building (GHASP!) an SUV, they collectively noted that this would be the downfall of the company. Alas, Porsche churns out thousands of Cayannes, they sell extraordinarily well and this allows them to go ahed and make the Porsche 997 the finest example of what the 911 could be. And die hard 911 fans haven’t exactly shunned the 997 because the Porsche showroom is tainted with the Hot Pepper Truck.
When strong brands die, it is because the entire company loses site of what made the brand strong in the first place. Porsche and Jeep are proving that a brand can (with mixed results) create products for the mass market with the caveat that they not only keep from mucking with the original product that the brand identity was forged with, but actually use some of the capital from mass market sales to make that icon even stronger.
Brand extension like this will likely be a long term risk for a short term gain. Assuming they don’t lose money on some of these barf mobiles, it could help them. In the long term though, they are borrowing against Jeep’s image, and it may cost them.
“Now we [Jeep] have something for everybody.”
Oh yeah? So where the hell is the stretch limo?
Chysler needs Jeep to be more than just a niche player. There aint too much market for a brand/ delearship that has a line strictly made up of off-road capable vehicles.
The point behind niche marketing is that a well targeted rifle shot is often more effective than is a random shotgun approach. The niche makes the message clear to the consumer what the brand is about, helps to manage their expectations, and if successful, establishes the brand as a “must have” for those interested in the niche. It’s often more profitable to dominate a small segment within the market than it is to constantly struggle over a piece of the mainstream that is the subject to constant combat.
That being said, Jeep dealerships are generally already co-branded with Dodge and Chrysler products, so the car lines are already being offered by the other Mopar brands. The last thing Chrysler should be doing is competing against itself. Of course, the next step would be for Chrysler Group to build some products that people actually might want to buy…
gakoenig
Respectfully, I think your view would result in people having model loyalty (JK), instead of brand loyalty. That’s ok for those who are only interested in the JK. But what about “everyone” else ?
Making a Jeep for everyone makes Jeep meaningless. They should never build anything my Mom would want to drive. If she’d like it, it simply isn’t a jeep. After a while, when enough vehicles have been made, in enough different catagories, to appeal to enough different tastes, all with the Jeep name on them, Jeep becomes a brand just like Ford, or Chevrolet, or Pontiac, etc. – it means absolutely nothing.
As an aside, how about a Jeep competitor to the Escalade. I might want to do some off road pimpin.
dynamic
Don’t get me wrong, I think that much of the Jeep lineup is a detriment to the Jeep brand ethos. The point I was trying to make was that, as long as the JK platform and it’s replacement don’t muck about with the hardcore Jeep brand, then not all hope is lost. The second that they try to soften up the Wrangler sub-brand to make it more easily acceptable to the masses is when things will go totally pear shaped.
In my mind, Jeep should offer 5 vehicles:
– Wrangler
– Wrangler Unlimited
– Wrangler Gladiator (the pickup)
– Wrangler “Rescue”
– Grand Cherokee.
The Wrangler and Wrangler Unlimited are no brainers. The Gladiator is a niche vehicle that looks like it would work incredibly well, is already engineered and would generate sales without diluting the Jeep ethos.
The “Rescue” is the 4 door, permanent hard top. Again, here Jeep can extend the Wrangler – with the hardcore ethos intact – to a very popular market segment (the small SUV). This would replace the Patriot, Compass and Liberty. A permanent hard top along with a nicer interior would differentiate this vehicle from the Wrangler Unlimited.
The Grand Cherokee is a big seller and is a good sub-brand for Jeep. They need to continue developing and refining this vehicle to go after the Ford Explorer and Chevy Tahoe/Trail Blazer segment. Honestly, Jeep invented the whole SUV thing and they really should be dominating this market.
canfood: I just don’t get the Compass and Patriot. What’s the difference. Why would I get the Compass if I could buy the Patriot or vice versa…
Aren’t they both pretty pathetic at off-roading anyways?
They’re both pretty pathetic on-road, too.
There was a time some years back when Jeep proudly proclaimed that all it’s vehicles were “Trail Rated,” and tested on the Rubicon Trail. I think the Liberty was the last model to get that little stamp of approval. I don’t care what MotorTrend says, the Patriot and Compass might be able to go off the road and do everything I would ever need them to as a daily driver, but they aren’t Jeep Jeeps, not even close.
Having gone through numerous owners over the decades, there is no thing as a ‘real Jeep’ – just our perception.
My niece’s Patriot 4X4 is quite surprising at its trail ability, but no, I would never take it where a CJ would go. So what? There’s room at the table for a light, roomy, good mileage CUV styled like a Jeep.
I’d drop the Commander and Compass, and add pick-up versions of the Wrangler and Patriot.
Jeep really needs the Gladiator concept (Wrangler truck) and ditch the FWD turdbuckets. Not making the Gladiator is like snatching defeat from the hands of victory.
Word. The one and only time I have stopped at a car show, dead in my tracks, and said (about a truck) ‘Damn, that is awesome’ was at the Gladiator concept at the Toronto International Car Show. Plain jane 4 banger with a manual, small diesel, and maybe a stout 6. I cannot believe that it wouldn’t sell.
# whatdoiknow1:
October 8th, 2007 at 1:08 pm
… Unlike the Compass the RAV4 was done right and did not come to market looking like some half-a$$ed POS!
Yea, it was that tasteful styling of the 1st gen that made my heart flutter:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/08/96-97_Toyota_RAV4_2door.jpg
Excuse me while I hurl…
Also I remember in Car and Driver I think it was, that they tested a number of SUV’s and CUV’s off road as well as on and the RAV4 nearly broke offroad and couldn’t cut the mustard. I’m sure they’ve improved since then but that’s the point. The Patriot (and even the Compass) could evolve into a capable and desireable vehicles. It wasn’t until the 2nd generation RAV4 came out that I reflexively stopped wretching everytime I saw one.