New Cherokee is Jeep's most radical effort

It's Jeep's most polarising model ever and it is unlikely the company will produce anything as radical in the near future. The chief designer of the Jeep Cherokee, the mid-size SUV that sits under the Grand Cherokee and above the Compass, says its confronting grille design hasn't been as debated since Jeep abandoned the seven-slot grille for its SJ model in 1974.

Greg Howell, the head designer of the Cherokee and who is now penning a new Dodge Ram, says he wasn't looking at history when he styled the Cherokee that is due in Australia in the second quarter of next year.

"The notion that we were breaking away from previous Cherokee wasn't really true because we were continuing the same design theme," he says. "But there were a lot of new targets to meet such as fuel economy and aerodynamics.

"A lot of the Cherokee is designed by science - the way we had to shape the A-plillar to get the wind to move acros the car as efficiently as possible, for example - then we had to ensure that below the body would do its work off the road."

The Cherokee will be priced about the same as the previous model - that left Australian showrooms in February - but shares few parts. It shares the platform with the Fiat Group's Alfa Romeo Giulietta and is, obviously, now a monocoque body rather than the previous Cherokee's body-on-frame design.
For American buyers, it is also a return of the Cherokee nameplate after it was replaced for almost two decades by the Liberty badge.

Howell says the 2014 Cherokee has been specifically designed for a younger buyer and is therefore deliberately set apart from the Grand Cherokee. "Our research tels us that people want something modern and something versatile because they want to remain SUV owners," he says. "The vehicle should be rugged but we knew that, above all, it had to be modern. Efficiency was also a big issue because people don't want to be at the fuel pump all the time."

He says it was "challenging" working with a new body design on an existing car-based platform. "We had a very specific platform and that changed the way we had to look at a new SUV," he says.

"For example, we have a 1m front overhang and a 30-degree approach angle. These are not normal for a serious off-road vehicle. It made us think in different ways."

Howell says adopting the Giulietta CUSY platform became reality because Jeep appreciated that customers wanted an SUV with all the hallmarks of car comfort and safety. "We try to bite into the SUV and CUV (crossover) market as much as possible," he says. "So we have to introduce technology such as its nine-speed automatic transmission - a first for the market - and the high level of in-car electronics and safety.

"The fact is that this vehicle is like a car but is more trail capable than any other SUV in its class. Personally, I don't think it's a polarising design. It's the way to the future."

This reporter is on Twitter: @cg_dowling