Jeep

This article is about the U.S. motor manufacturing company. For the original World War II Jeep, see Willys MB.
For other uses, see Jeep (disambiguation).

Jeep
Jeep dealership in Rockville, Maryland (2004)
Product type
OwnerStellantis
Produced byStellantis North America
CountryU.S.
Introduced
  • 1943; 81 years ago (1943) (trademark application)[1]
  • 1945; 79 years ago (1945) (first Jeep-branded product launched)
Related brandsWillys MB
MarketsWorldwide[note 1]
Previous owners
Websitejeep.com

Jeep is an American automobile brand, now owned by multi-national corporation Stellantis.[2][3] Jeep has been part of Chrysler since 1987, when Chrysler acquired the Jeep brand, along with other assets, from their previous owner American Motors Corporation (AMC).

Jeep's current product range consists solely of sport utility vehicles—both crossovers and fully off-road worthy SUVs and models, including one pickup truck. Previously, Jeep's range included other pick-ups, as well as small vans, and a few roadsters. Some of Jeep's vehicles—such as the Grand Cherokee—reach into the luxury SUV segment, a market segment the 1963 Wagoneer is considered to have started.[4] Jeep sold 1.4 million SUVs globally in 2016, up from 500,000 in 2008,[5][6] two-thirds of which in North America,[7] and was Fiat-Chrysler's best selling brand in the U.S. during the first half of 2017.[8] In the U.S. alone, over 2400 dealerships hold franchise rights to sell Jeep-branded vehicles, and if Jeep were spun off into a separate company, it is estimated to be worth between $22 and $33.5 billion—slightly more than all of FCA (US).[7][6] Antonio Filosa is the current CEO of the Jeep brand worldwide.[9]

Prior to 1940 the term "jeep" had been used as U.S. Army slang for new recruits or vehicles,[10][11] but the World War II "jeep" that went into production in 1941 specifically tied the name to this light military 4×4, arguably making them the oldest four-wheel drive mass-production vehicles now known as SUVs.[12] The Jeep became the primary light four-wheel-drive vehicle of the United States Armed Forces and the Allies during World War II, as well as the postwar period. The term became common worldwide in the wake of the war. Doug Stewart noted:[13] "The spartan, cramped, and unstintingly functional jeep became the ubiquitous World War II four-wheeled personification of Yankee ingenuity and cocky, can-do determination." It is the precursor of subsequent generations of military light utility vehicles such as the Humvee, and inspired the creation of civilian analogs such as the original Series I Land Rover.[14][15] Many Jeep variants serving similar military and civilian roles have since been designed in other nations.

The Jeep marque has been headquartered in Toledo, Ohio, ever since Willys–Overland launched production of the first CJ or Civilian Jeep branded models there in 1945.[16] Its replacement, the conceptually consistent Jeep Wrangler series, has remained in production since 1986. With its solid axles and open top, the Wrangler has been called the Jeep model that is as central to the brand's identity as the 911 is to Porsche.[17]

At least two Jeep models (the CJ-5 and the SJ Wagoneer) enjoyed extraordinary three-decade production runs of a single body generation.

In lowercase, the term "jeep" continues to be used as a generic term for vehicles inspired by the Jeep that are suitable for use on rough terrain.[18] In Iceland, the word Jeppi (derived from Jeep) has been used since World War II and is still used for any type of SUV.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Statham was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ "Chrysler 8-K/A SEC filing" (PDF). secdatabase.com. December 3, 2012. Archived (PDF) from the original on May 16, 2013. Retrieved January 18, 2015. ... served as the auditor for Fiat S.p.A. and its consolidated subsidiaries, which include Chrysler Group
  3. ^ "Chrysler Group LLC". InsideView company data. Archived from the original on September 27, 2013. Retrieved January 18, 2015. Chrysler Group LLC operates as a subsidiary of Fiat North America LLC
  4. ^ Gunnell, John (2005). American Cars of the 1960s: A Decade of Diversity. Krause Publications. p. 213. ISBN 978-0-89689-131-9.
  5. ^ Peterson, George (February 24, 2017). "Jeep Guns For 2 Million In Annual Sales". Forbes. Retrieved November 10, 2020.
  6. ^ a b Snavely, Brent. "Could Fiat Chrysler spin off Jeep, Ram? 'Yes'". Detroit Free Press. Archived from the original on January 14, 2018. Retrieved May 30, 2019.
  7. ^ a b "China's Great Wall wants to buy Jeep". Automotive News Europe. August 18, 2017. Retrieved May 30, 2019.
  8. ^ Ebhardt, Tommaso; Butters, Jamie (August 24, 2017). "Marchionne Is Betting Big on Rugged Jeep to Steer Fiat". Bloomberg News. Retrieved October 17, 2020.
  9. ^ "Stellantis Announces Changes in Leadership Team" (Press release). Stellantis NV. Retrieved February 23, 2024.
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference Jeeps4145 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference ODjeepname was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ Russell, Philip (2013). 100 Military Inventions that Changed the World. Little, Brown Book Group. ISBN 978-1-4721-0670-4. Retrieved January 18, 2015.
  13. ^ Stewart, Doug (1992). "Hail to the jeep! Could we have won without it?". Smithsonian. 23 (8): 60–69.
  14. ^ Gunn, Richard (2006). Trucks & Off-Road Vehicles. Motorbooks. p. 137. ISBN 978-0-7603-2569-8. Retrieved July 31, 2011.[permanent dead link‍]
  15. ^ Robson, Graham (1981). The Rover Story. Stephens. p. 87. ISBN 978-0-85059-543-7. The first Land-Rover owed a lot to the Jeep. Designer Gordon Bashford, who laid out the basic concept, makes no secret of that. It was also his job to go off to an ex-WD surplus vehicle dump in the Cotswolds, buy a couple of roadworthy Jeeps ...
  16. ^ Allen, Jim (2004). Jeep Collector's Library. MBI. pp. 49–51. ISBN 978-0-7603-1979-6. Retrieved May 22, 2014.
  17. ^ Cite error: The named reference CurbClassic was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  18. ^ Morr, Tom; Brubaker, Ken (2007). The Joy of Jeep. MBI. p. 50. ISBN 978-0-7603-3061-6. Retrieved October 28, 2010.[permanent dead link‍]


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