Jeep J8 – I will buy you today, but Chrysler won’t let me!
I’m not quite sure what is going on with me, but today I am on a car kick. So here is your second consecutive “car” post of the day.
I’m not really a gear head. I do have a special affinity for cars though and I maintain a good knowledge of what is going on in the industry. One of my first words was, “Cadillac.” I’m not sure but I think I got that one out before “mom” or “dad.” As someone who also reviews environmentally friendly products, I am enjoying the debate and proliferation of lighter, smarter cars that offer up lower emissions and higher MPGs.
But I have a deep dark secret to tell… I do not drive one.
If you come to my house and look in my garage (or “off-street parking” rather). You will find a bevy of gas guzzlers, A 2003 Jeep Grand Cherokee, A 2007 Cadillac CTS (Best Mistake Ever!), and the apple of my eye, A 1997 Jeep Wrangler TJ. Nary a hybrid, diesel, or flex-fuel logo in sight! For all my recent efforts to become green, the last place I will sacrifice if in the cars I drive. Though our next vehicle will likely be a hybrid or able to run on bio diesel.
Anyway, back to my point. The other day I was sitting back lamenting the decline of Chrysler (and with it Jeep) because it’s likely to slow the new product development of newer, greener jeeps. Then it hit me… Is there any reason on earth or any other U.S. car brand better positioned to offer itself as the all-green car company than Jeep? I would say not.
Jeep is the only bright spot in Chrysler’s sad lineup. Cerberus, the private equity company that bought Chrysler from Daimler last year, is basically on operation shut down. For Chrysler LLC, there is no turnaround story to be had as it exists today. The best Cerberus can do is make the tough decisions and cut production, products, and jobs to the point where another company feels secure purchasing it. Most Chrysler cars sell poorly, the brightest bright spot for the entire company is none other than that 60 year old Jeep Wrangler, which is selling at a healthy pace.
Also, on the green front, Chrysler is falling behind every single U.S. manufacturer. They do not make a hybrid, for all intent… They selectively make diesels, and their E85 or ultra efficient gas vehicles are rare. As it stands, they are not positioned to make the steps effectively enough to capture this fast growing market. They are too large, too damaged, and lack the cajones.
So here is my proposal.
Jeep should through some mechanism be separated from Chrysler LLC and become it’s own, single brand car company. Jeep Inc. They should immediately begin planning a near green lineup for 2010-2010. This would involve hybrid engines, designed or licensed, for their smaller vehicles (Compass and Patriot). E85, and Diesel for the Grand Cherokee. And for the storied Wrangler, a 2.8L Diesel engine capable of running biofuels. New and existing product development could move to an all green lineup by 2012-2013.
In addition to drivetrain changes, measures could be taken to use interior and exterior materials are made and selected with their impact on the environment in mind. Production facilities could change their methods to be more eco-friendly. The Jeep Wrangler is already manufactured with spartan components and little newfangledness. You want a car that leaves a small footprint? Then mate a tourquey high-efficiency diesel with the go-anywhere do-anything, last-forever, stamped sheet metal Jeep Wrangler. Put some recycled plastics and eco-fabrics on the interior and you’re good to go.
Jeep, and it’s brand, are deeply American. At a time when every single US car manufacturer is being whomped by foreign advancements in efficiency Jeep Inc. could take a stand and establish itself as a green car company for people who actually venture out into the wilderness. Think about it, Jeep already has a built in fervent fan base who loyally buy their products time and time again. They are people who, for the most part, spend their weekends camping, hunting, hiking, and fishing. These are consumer who enjoy and respect the outdoors and who, I believe, are more likely to care about their environment than your average city driver. And the brand couldn’t be more well established.
My pitch to the legions of jeep enthusiasts couldn’t be more simple. A smaller, more eco friendly Jeep will establish the company for the future. Being separated from Chrysler will give it the agility to invest in products that consumers want, like the Gladiator and Wrangler J8. Not to mention, jeep enthusiasts have been clamoring day and night, for years for one thing… a diesel engine.
As it stands now, I doubt Chrysler can deliver Jeep into a marketplace that moving towards “green” and give consumer what they want and deserve…. A Reinvigorated, Sustainable, Consumer Driven Jeep Brand
Just my two cents! What do you all think?
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{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
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Why don’t you forward this to the Chrysler people? The rugged, outdoor look of Jeep would be a snap to advertise if they could only tone down that thirsty engine.
At $4.10 a gallon of gas, it will become cheaper to run my jeep on e85 here in Texas with our current price spread. When gas crosses $4.00, I will purchase a conversion kit and switch fuels.
There are two things that are evident: Chrysler has no interest in “greening” Jeeps or they would have done so already. This is because their “chosen” market demographics could care less. Also the EPA, while meaning to do good, hampers diesel developments with very stringent emissions regulations and with no “perceived” market demand, Chrysler has not been interested in developing one for the US market.
So that leaves the green Jeep market to the Jeep community to develop a new product. What I propose is this: first, stop buying new Jeeps unless they come out with a diesel or e85 version. Find an older Jeep and restore it and convert it to E85 technology. One way to decrease a carbon footprint is to not buy a new Jeep…especially since the Jeep designers seem to be sitting there trying to make it look like a Hummer anyhow.
There are isolated incidents of people converting Jeeps to run on diesel but there isn’t a standard package available yet. So lets get together as a community and do it. What do you need to do it? Where can we get it done? What are the legalities?
Google soon for a Jeep Wrangler conversion page. If the initial one is successful, I plan to build out more and sell them thru Ebay motors, eventually selling ones retrofitted for diesel engines.
We don’t really need Chrysler for this and if the market develops, then the btards at Chrysler may wake up and “play that most American of games…..catch up.”
I stumbled upon your website while researching bota box wine. A green web site run by a guy with 3 very low mpg cars? That’s is a hoot. If you can’t “sacrafice” in the place that makes the biggest impact in your daily footprint, what does that say? And, you are reviewing wine and referring to the varietals as flavors? Don’t quit your day job. You obviously are in no position to review wine and barely seem to know much about the technology used in the packaging or it’s carbon footprint. If you want people to take the reviews seriously, do some research on the subject matter and I’d rethink those sweatshirt hoodies you favor, not to mention the setting of your videos. Good luck!
@Bill Smith…
The Jeep wrangler TJ, one of his current ‘LOW MPG cars’ has the smallest eco footprint of any vehicle produced in north America.
Secondly, the REAL pollutants humans are soiling the earth with are the waste products from the crap we consume. The CO2 emissions and such count for less then a % of what the planet creates normally. This whole green we are killing the plantet thing has more to do with business and social status then it does with actually leaving a small carbon footprint. Carbon BTW is what all life forms are made of.
http://www.geocraft.com/WVFossils/ice_ages.html
Read that and be enlightened and stop being one of the retarded lemming masses that cant thing and only follow.
ALSO, Mr Bill I believe the core of the authors topic here is that the Jeep brand in it’s heritage, and loyalty can do the most for the Chrysler co in regards to showcasing them as a ‘green’ leader. They should start with further research into the TJ Wrangler and its small footprint, promote that through media and scale the Jeep lineup to reflect the TJ wrangler. IMO they should go as far as to dump the current POS behemoth wrangler and just refresh the old TJ with more sustainable materials and give it the much deserved clean diesel. STop trying to reinvent the wheel and just lighten up the current one.
@Tweaker17…..how much do you offroad? How many Jeep clubs have you joined? Because I can tell you from experience that the Jeep crowd has been and is more eco friendly then your green spouting hollywood morons will ever DREAM of being. MAny many Jeep clubs set up trail runs with the sole purpose of cleaning the environment, when was the last time you got off your fat ass and picked up a piece of trash, or better yet drove out into the woods where your Insight cant even make it to just to pick up trash and clean.
I am amazed at the amount of sheer stupidity that runs amuck in America.