Automotive Design and Production

OCT 2013

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AD&P; > October 2013 > FEATURE > Designing the 2014 Jeep Cherokee > Gary S. Vasilash > gsv@autofieldguide.com specifc wheel geometries all contribute to a vehicle with a coefcient of drag of 0.332 (for the FWD model with grille shutters). Robert Walker, chief designer, for Jeep Interiors, says that working on the interior of the Cherokee allowed them to work with a "clean slate"—but somehow that slate had huge Jeep infuences. For example, speaking of the shape of the fow of the top of the instrument panel, he says that it was infuenced by the wing span of a bird of prey. The center stack has a trapezoidal shape infuenced by the grille form of the original Willys. The color pallet used is directly infuenced by places that the Cherokee could conceivably traverse: • Morocco: Black (cloth or leather) with yellow ("Moroccan Sun") accent stitching • Iceland: Black and light grey • Kilimanjaro: Deep brown with red accents • Grand Canyon: Brown with gold-tone stitching • Mt. Vesuvius: Dark brown and indigo blue leather with white accent stitching p Here's something that shows that done right, platforms can have a wide applicability: the Cherokee is based on the Compact U.S. Wide (CUS-wide) architecture, which is a variation on the platform used for the Alfa Romeo Giulietta and Dodge Dart. The Grand Cherokee has proven that "stylish Jeep" is not an oxymoron. The competition in the D-SUV segment, where the Cherokee is positioned, is one that has not only, as Manley put it "exploded over the last seven to eight years," but which is now full of competitors that are not only competing on things like technology, safety and fuel economy, but on design. And with the 2014 Cherokee, Jeep has entered the fray with a fresh design. *Here's an interesting factoid. The Jeep Cherokee was introduced in 1974 (based on the Jeep Wagoneer, known as the SJ platform for the Jeep cognoscenti), and it had a run until 2001. In 1984, American Motors, which owned Jeep, made a major change to the Cherokee, putting it on a new platform, XJ, which was smaller (21 in. shorter, 6 in. narrower, 4 in. lower, and 1,000 lb. lighter than the Wagoneer). What's more, it was a unibody, not body-on-frame. Jeep contends that it, in efect, was the frst modern SUV. What is interesting is that between 1974 and 2001, worldwide, there were approximately 2.5-million Cherokees sold. Consider how that segment has ballooned, given the two-million units in that segment that sold in the U.S. alone last year. p Inside, the curved shape of the top of the IP is said to have been infuenced by a bird of prey and the center stack shape (including the 8.4-in. color Uconnect touch screen) that of the grille of the original Willys. p A Jeep ought to be rock-solid. The body structure is approximately 65% high-strength steel. 28

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