The Jeep Cherokee was facelifted last year, the Grand Cherokee will be in SA soon, but what can we expect from the new Wrangler, which will make its US début in 2006? That it will retain the boxy styling that traditionally attracts young male buyers, Jeep says.
The Jeep Cherokee was facelifted last year, the Grand Cherokee will be in SA soon, but what can we expect from the new Wrangler, which will make its US début in 2006? That it will retain the boxy styling that traditionally attracts young male buyers, Jeep says.
Joe Eberhardt, Chrysler group executive vice president of global sales and marketing, last week said that the next Wrangler’s angular styling would help the brand retain the model’s primary buyers – men. It has also been suggested that the 2006 model year Wrangler will offer a four-door model and Jeep does not want that derivative to be confused with Liberty (Cherokee) models.
The Wrangler “attracts a very different target audience today” from that of the Cherokee, Eberhardt said. “It is much younger, less family-orientated. That will continue, if not even be further enhanced, with the new Wrangler,” he added.
In the United States, most Wrangler buyers are male, but most Cherokee customers are women, Eberhardt revealed.
Women that like “the Jeep brand imagery and attitude,” he added, “want it in a more rounded types of vehicle, such as the Liberty and Grand Cherokee.”
“Typically, things that are more boxy, more upright, seem to (attract) a younger, more male audience than things that are a little rounder,” Eberhardt added. “So I think they are significantly different buyers today, and we intend to maintain that.”
