Jeep(R) Cherokee Embargo! Cripes! Alright, TTAC Busts It

by Bertel Schmitt

Published: February 22nd, 2013

jeep r cherokee embargo cripes alright ttac busts it

Chrysler sure knows how to get the attention of the autoblogosphere. It’s not just that they send out pictures of a new car, along with a titillating come-on embargo. Oh, no: They do it not one, but several better. TTAC is in receipt of a Chrysler-internal email, along with userid and password to a site where secret pictures of the Jeep Cherokee are stored, along with the admonition that “anything you have heard or seen is still embargoed, until the day of the reveal, Wed., March 27 (at 12:01 am EST).” What do we do now?

Of course, we do our journalistic duty. In the name of the first amendment, we assert our constitutional right and publish the darned pictures, especially now that everybody else did. We also would like to take the opportunity to state that the name Jeep® Cherokee is instantly recognizable as the most capable and versatile mid-size SUV in the world. For 2014, Jeep brings the Cherokee name back to North America with the debut of its all-new mid-size sport-utility vehicle.

If you think that this sounds like lifted from a press release, then you are darn right. It was part of the confidential email.

You want the userid and password, you say? Bah! We are professionals, and we do not reveal our sources.

#BertelSchmitt #JeepCherokee

Bertel Schmitt

Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.

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KindaFondaHonda on Feb 23, 2013

I really really like it. This same sort of criticism was foisted upon the original Nissan Murano (complaints about the "toothy" grille and first-to-be-implemented Gremlin-style upswept rear quarter windows). It was widely panned by internet forum "experts". Guess what? Now a lot of SUVs have totally copied the Murano upswept rear look. And the Murano has since sold just fine, thank-you very much. So much for internet "experts". These are the same soothsayers that stated the Juke would sell in "single digits" when it came out, the Bangle-Butt was a one-off disaster(now often copied to this day), and bland Jetta/Passat redesigns would result in sales disaster. All wrong. Not seeing the rest of the Cherokee makes it impossible to discern if it's really wholly cohesive and good-looking in person, but I genuinely love the front. It's different. How many millions of times do we hear: "That new front/rear/profile looks just like the ________. Boring!". This new design at least looks like something new. The Compass and Patriot seem just timid and boring at every angle. Better get used to this look... it's gonna sell like mad... mark my words.

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- Th009 on Feb 23, 2013
  
  It's different, I'll grant you that. But being different doesn't make bad design good. I'd love to hear Sajeev's take on this -- he has more design credentials than the rest of us put together.
  
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- Marcelo de Vasconcellos on Feb 23, 2013
  
  @th009 I agree th009, but I'll tell you a little bit of my history car gazing and thus building some sort of sense of style. Usually, if a car comes out and I immediately like it, it turns out to be something that does not stand the test of time (most recent Hyundais, some Fiats). If it comes out and I don't like it immediately, well it's usually because it's very bland or really ugly (most VWs, Chevies, lots of Fords, BMWs of late etc). If however a car comes out, and at first I reject it, but then can't stop looking cause somehow it intrigues me, usually these cars are labelled as good design, though sometimes not good design because of beauty, but rather cause it breaks some ground, and or becomes influential (Twingo, Ka, Uno are some examples). This Cherokee intrigues me. Would love to see it in person. But, if it follows the pattern above, it could be considered good design in a matter of time. In reality, I don't know if what I just wrote makes any sense. It's just my experience. Anyways, great to see you opine here. I believe you know your stuff and I respect your opinion. If you say it's bad design, that certainly makes me more wary of it. Let'
  
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AJ on Mar 06, 2013

Looks like Fiat had it's way with a Jeep, and what resulted was a car, not a Jeep. Yuck...

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