It was reported in 2015 that Sergio Marchionne, who used to be CEO of Fiat Chrysler, said, “When I see a Range Rover on the street, my blood boils because we should be able to do something like that.” We’ve seen Jeep work toward this goal for years with the Grand Cherokee and Wagoneer. The all-electric, ultra-slim Wagoneer S, which will go on sale this year, looks like the brand’s most high-end product yet. Strangely, sales of the brand have gone down. Does it really have the power to do what it’s doing? It’s not that Stellantis can’t make beautiful, high-end cars. Many people would not be interested in a Jeep that costs and looks like a Range Rover. Prices show that there aren’t many. The magazine Business Insider criticized Jeep for having sales drop by almost 30% from 2018 to 2022. Crain’s Detroit Business says that Forvia, a provider of seats, stopped doing business with the company last summer because it was losing money. Like many other news outlets, Bloomberg said a few months ago, “Jeep’s jump to $100,000 SUVs risks leaving loyal buyers behind.” Because tough 4x4s are still popular, Jeep has a great reputation for going off-road, and Stellantis has a lot of engineers, I wish the company would focus on making a car that has the best parts of both the Rivian and the regular Jeep without the extras and at a lower price. It looks a lot like that dream Jeep Recon, even though Jeep’s website still says “coming in 2024.” Still, because Jeep is so dedicated to being the American Range Rover, they gave us this luxurious Wagoneer S as their new mission statement instead of more information about that. It also has empty calories in it. A news release was just sent out about it, highlighting its big screen and lightning-fast 3.5-second 0-60 mph run. Every time a new electric car comes out, the same marketing lines are usually used. The Wagoneer S isn’t ugly, but it also doesn’t look like anything else. It is the best way to get from a neighborhood of McMansions similar to Buffalo Wild Wings. Adam Ismail, who is our news editor, is friends with someone who sells cars at a Jeep dealership. “We get so many people wanting something like the Cherokee, but we have nothing to offer them anymore,” my coworker translated the salesman’s most recent complaint. A lot of people still think the Compass needs to be bigger, and the much newer Chevy Trax is about $6,000 cheaper for people who might be interested in buying one. At the same time, the Renegade has been left to die, the Grand Wagoneer has turned into a joke, and even Wranglers are being pushed into even higher price ranges to sit on lots with ridiculously high list prices. The Wagoneer S is slowly moving away from the core group of Jeep fans who buy Wranglers. It looks like Marchionne’s long-term goal of making the Jeep brand more upscale has come true. Through concepts and the 4xe plug-in hybrid, Jeep has long hinted at an electric Wrangler. The company could and should make a statement today about how electrification and ruggedness can live together, showing that people can be one with nature, go off-roading in a green way, and go on adventures without feeling bad about the environment, among other things. Another tasteless jellybean is on its way to PF Chang’s parking spots, making people even less interested in them. I know that no car is the result of the work or choice of a single person, but I don’t want to downplay the people who worked hard to make the Wagoneer S. But this is not the way for Jeep to become important again.
