Chrysler has decided to delay production of the Jeep Cherokee again as the company seeks to iron out further quality issues with their crucial new product.
According to the Toledo Blade, the Jeep plant will have its second shift temporarily idled, with roughly 500 workers laid off for two weeks as Chrysler conducts “extended quality validation testing”. But union officials expected the layoffs to last one week, with workers doing quality checks on the vehicles.
Production of the Cherokee began in late June, with a second shift brought on in August. Production has been delayed one more than one occassion, with issues related to fit and finish as well as the all-new 9-speed transmission blamed for the holdup. The vehicle’s media introduction was also delayed.
With Jeep’s current heritage, I saw the headline and immediately thought “Wow, Spain’s unemployment is already over 20%…”
There’s a visual quality issue with that front grille and headlight setup; are they planning to address that?
+1
Laid off for only a week? This is normal in the mfg industry?
Looks like they learned something from the Pentastar V6 problems. Nice to see them abandon the “Ship them anyway and let the dealers sort it out” mindset.
What problems were found with Pentastar?
Cylinder heads leaking, for one.
I’m beginning to wonder if we’ll ever see this vehicle in the real world
…and since this Jeep is not ready for prime time, I would say that gives Derek’s recent review a little extra validation
Sergio must have read it.
God willing we won’t, seeing it in pictures hurts the eyeballs enough as it is.
Late model change to retro fit a turbo-4?
No doubt it’ll get 45MPG then, easily. :D
LOL
One wonders if the various fit and finish issues pointed out by the review on this very site, made someone higher up go take a look at the actual vehicle and realize that they really did have a problem.
Brian P, that would not surprise me in the least!
ttac is very widely read throughout the industry even though MOST of the readers do not choose to comment.
That said, I am not in the market for a Cherokee but as the owner of a 2012 GRAND Cherokee I can honestly say that it was put together nicely by the UAW and that it has been problem-free since day one.
Which begs the question,” why the issues with the Cherokee?”
One, I’ve heard similar opinions about the recent Grand Cherokee from friends, one particularly who told me it was screwed together as well as the Mercedes ML he sold off to get his. As for why quality issues with the new Cherokee have risen up, maybe they need to send a few of the Jefferson Road guys down to Toledo to offer some tips on what they do to produce the GC
That’s sort of faint praise unless you indicate the generation of ML you speak of. Cause the first few years of it were awful.
What’s one guys faint praise is another’s favorable impression. If you personally have a dog in this race, i.e. are interested in the newer Grand Cherokee, ask around, find out what folks who already own one feel about their car, and draw your own conclusions. This is a discussion about newer Jeeps, it doesn’t need to be about past Mercedes products.
Then I’d ask why you brought up an older Mercedes product in the first place, if you don’t think they should be discussed here. Don’t bring up a different product as the subject of your comment, and then reply “hey don’t talk about a different product.”
Further, the discussion has already drifted onto older Jeeps (not the current discussion), XJ 4.0 engines (not current), prior model GC’s (not current), and the UAW (same).
I was never a fan of the old Chrysler crap cars either but my wife fell in love with the styling of the 2011/2012 Grand Cherokee, and that’s all she wrote! Had to have one.
Her 2008 Highlander fell by the wayside. We still have it although it is now the daily ride for our 16-year old grand daughter who lives with us.
But in all fairness, we have to give credit where credit is due. Starting with the 2011 Daimler-designed and Daimler-engineered Grand Cherokee, even the UAW managed to crank out a winner. Ditto the 300.
And in spite of all the negative comments about the Pentastar V6, it is probably the best engine Chrysler ever brought to muster, next to the fantabulous 426 Hemi my dad used in his dragsters during the sixties.
Could this have something to do with that rather critical report by one of the TTAC Staff?
If the design wasn’t so poorly made they wouldn’t have fit n finish issues from the getgo, sooner or later I expect a recall for headlights that fail to illuminate the road ahead.
I guess I’m in the minority, I rather like the new nose. Maybe they can get it assembled nicely despite the UAW.
I like it too & I AM a minority. LOL
LOL, it doesn’t matter if they delay it for a year….it’s still going to be an unreliable Jeep with plenty of recalls and even more TSBs, just like every other Jeep product ever made.
The day Jeep can produce a quality vehicle with any semblance of reliability will be the day pink monkeys fly out of my butt. And that ain’t happening any time soon.
I’ve got an ’87 XJ Cherokee and a ’92 XJ Cherokee.
The ’87 is my daughter’s daily driver. It has over 225,000 miles on it with the original engine and transmission. In fact, a lot of it is original. She is not easy on it.
She or I would drive either of them anywhere we please without a thought or concern of, “Can we make it?”
The pink monkeys fly at 8 AM tomorrow morning.
Sorry, I should have clarified my comment….I wasn’t talking about 20- or 25-year-old Jeeps. I’m talking about newer ones. You know, the ones that have all kinds of electronic stuff on them. Your Jeeps were probably lucky to have power windows, LOL.
Modern Jeeps are big heaps. All kinds of electrical problems is just about guaranteed.
My three jeeps with a combined 600k on them would like a word with you.
I’ll join the party – my ’98 XJ I just sold ran solid for +200k miles without a single drive train problem. It also lived half its life with oversize tires and suspension adding extra stress to the vehicle with no ill effects. I can’t speak for new-er post-Daimler and Fiat era models, but the I6 motor/AW4 trans combo is pretty damn bulletproof.
Did that 4.0L go away with the last XJ Cherokee? It seems to be one of the few things they really were doing properly for a long time.
I believe it was still being offered in base Grand Cherokees until MY2004.
Shoot they should have kept it! Though I’d imagine today it wouldn’t pass those MPG requirements.
4.0L soldiered on in the Grand Cherokee (WJ series) through 2004 and the Wrangler (TJ series) through 2006. I own two 4.0L engines and they are simply brilliant. Diesel-like torque curve and unrivaled serviceability (can change the plugs in 15 minutes).