Jeep is a juggernaut brand that continues to grow and expand, adding new three-row SUVs with the well-received Jeep Grand Cherokee L and the addition of the full-size 2022 Jeep Wagoneer and the more premium 2022 Grand Wagoneer. At the small end of the spectrum, a small electric lifestyle crossover is in the works, due next year.
But what about one of the originals, the Jeep Cherokee from 1974 with brochures that introduced a new term: the sport-utility vehicle? Today, despite its Jeep badge and inclusion in the popular compact SUV segment, the storied Cherokee has largely fallen off buyers’ radar, selling about 3,500 a month these days. Production keeps dropping and the Belvidere, Illinois, plant has been dropping shifts and shedding workers.
You can’t blame consumers for overlooking the Cherokee. The current generation dates back to the 2014 model year, making it one of the oldest compact SUVs on the market and it comes last among compact SUVs on the MotorTrend Buyer’s Guide ranking. While the Cherokee has quietly soldiered on, media and marketing hype are centered on just about every other model in the Jeep universe. Even the 2022 Jeep Compass got a midcycle refresh with baby Wagoneer looks and fresh tech.
So, where’s the love? Or is Jeep putting the Cherokee out to pasture? We asked Global President of the Jeep Brand Christian Meunier and head of Jeep Brand North America Jim Morrison about the future of the Cherokee.
No Plans to Drop the Jeep Cherokee
The Cherokee still has a place in the Jeep universe, they insist. It is in the No.1 segment in America and plans are for the next-generation Cherokee to be “bigger and better than ever,” Morrison tells MotorTrend in an interview.
But don’t hold your breath. We won’t see the sixth-gen Cherokee this year, Morrison says. When it does get a much-needed update, it will have a lot of electrification, Meunier says. The execs would not say if the next Cherokee will continue to be offered with an internal combustion engine. Jeep’s electrification plan calls for the new small urban Jeep (with a new nameplate) in the first half of 2023, followed by a pure off-road SUV (think Wrangler) and a family SUV to follow in 2024.
Decline of the Jeep Cherokee
Meanwhile, Cherokee sales were down 34 percent to less than 90,000 in the U.S. in 2021 and barely hit 10,000 in the first quarter of 2022, which is one-fourth of sales for the same period in 2021.
The Cherokee is caught in a downward spiral spurred by its advancing age and production cuts. When semiconductor chips are in short supply, the Belvidere plant is one of the first chosen for temporary shutdown so chips can be rerouted to more profitable vehicles. Last month Stellantis started trimming the Belvidere workforce, using retirement packages and layoffs to reduce both hourly and salaried staff. That is after the company eliminated the second shift at the plant last summer.
Jeep Cherokee History
The first Cherokee was a re-introduced and rebadged sporty two-door version of the Jeep Wagoneer, ushering in the era of the SUV as a counterpart to the Wagoneer wagon. For the second generation, the Cherokee moved to a new platform; the 1984 model went from body-on-frame to unibody construction. The boxy Cherokee is credited as the first modern SUV with four doors and helped establish the segment and build the Jeep brand.
There was an outcry among enthusiasts in 2001 when the third generation was renamed the Jeep Liberty in North America, keeping the Cherokee name in other markets. The Liberty name continued when the fourth-generation Cherokee was redesigned in 2008.
The Cherokee nameplate returned to North America for the fifth generation, on sale from November 2013 to the present, with a few refreshes, new powertrains, additional features and trims, and controversy over the name during a time when other Native American names are being retired from the sports and business worlds.
Keyword: Next-Gen Jeep Cherokee in the Works