The style that drives the jeep forward

If Sergio Marchionne took time out of managing the car empire to record rap tunes, he might start with the phrase "hatred by haters". I say this because he is about to blow up the design aesthetics of the Jeep brand. The traditional seven-slot grill has not disappeared, but has bent — some people might say it has melted. The light is still there, just clamped on top; the auxiliary light at the bottom contrasts with the juke setting.

The Liberty nameplate looks like it is being mothballed in favor of the Cherokee moniker. With the change comes the watchful – some say vengeful eye of the Jeep faithful. Cherokee says “rugged traditionalism”, which includes large headlights and a blunt front end making a face that evokes the traditional styling cues of Willys / Jeep since the Second World War.

We will see what happens when you combine one of the most beloved nameplates in the automotive world with a complete break in styling tradition. Only the sales results will confirm if this duel gamble will pay off. So far, the change of moniker has received positive buzz, however the styling critique has been overwhelmingly negative. When is a negative a positive? When it gets your model lots of free publicity and gets the Jeep lots of extra page views making it more familiar and less shocking – perhaps softening the blow. It has been referred to in varied circles as an “Aztec 2” and also a “puke Juke” and many other obvious criticisms from armchair designers.

The familiar cry of “I wouldn’t buy it” really doesn’t matter, as sales for the outgoing model were already low. This would indicate that the present styling was not doing any favors to the bottom line of Chrysler. Perhaps a more radical styling approach would add at least one new buyer – and most likely a whole lot more.

The façade is given a modern appearance through the use of aerodynamic LED enhanced units that set off a sculpted hood and upswept fender lines. The main lighting units sit nested in a three-dimensional housing. Overall it gives off a bit of an Audi vibe, which is a good thing. However, unlike Audi, you can’t rely on a giant shield-like grill to give a corporate face. Jeep needed to do something different while keeping some semblance of tradition. Their solution was to give what I would call a wind swept look to the seven-slot front, which gracefully sweeps over the hood shut line.

The results were shocking at first, but still discordant after several observations. But I would say that every time I look at it, it becomes more beautiful. As the saying goes, "First you shock them, and then they put you in the museum." Is this a design that needs to be updated urgently within a year or two? This is a future classic, will it be seen as a groundbreaking breakthrough that pushes Jeep design forward? This is your answer-go back to the top of this article and check it out-and continue to check it out, because you will start seeing it everywhere for a long time, and eventually you will fall in love with it. p>