Jeep-ers, Creepers!

As many of you may know, I’m a big fan of Jeeps. This has not always been the case. It’s really an outward and visible sign of an inward and invisible change in my thinking, thanks to 9/11. Sound odd? Read on…

To give you an idea of my history and love/hate affair with the automobile, here’s a list of the cars I’ve owned/driven:

1. 1965 Ford Galaxie 500 (used)
2. 70’s-era Ford Econoline 100 full-sized cargo van
3. 1980 Chevrolet Citation (the reason I won’t buy ANY other GM products, ever.)
4. 1984 Chevrolet Celebrity (a company car, which confirmed my GM sentiments.)
5. 1985 Chrysler Laser (a dealer demo, fully loaded K-car)
6. 1990 Chrysler Le Baron convertible (my first convertible)
7. 1994 Ford Mustang GT Convertible (with a 5.0 litre V8, and my first leased vehicle)
8. 1996 Ford Explorer (my first SUV, when Mrs. Digital appropriated my Mustang)
9. 1998 Ford Explorer (my last Ford, thanks to those exploding Firestone tires)
10. 1997 Jeep Wrangler Sport (used)

You can see that I’m a big fan of American cars. I like ’em because I’m 6’4″ and need all the interior leg room I can get. Japanese cars need not apply. (Almost bought an Audi A4, once – bloody thing had leg room to spare.)

I’ve never been jazzed, however, by the American labor union movement (full disclosure: I was once a union member, and it never did me a lick of good), so for me, “buying American” is what I do when they make a better product than the other guys – it’s NOT a political statement.

Problem is, I see nothing but storm clouds on the horizon for Jeep, currently a division of Chrysler Corp., one of the “Big Three” of Detroit’s automotive industry. Truth to tell, I think Jeep is in the best shape of the Chrysler brands. The Chrysler brand itself is a Dead Brand Walkin’, and Dodge is not much better. Dodge is a pickup truck/muscle car brand that’s trying to be all things to all people. Chrysler is…well, I doubt anybody (especially their management) knows WHO or WHAT Chrysler is. Their brand image is so blurry as to be indistinguishable from wallpaper. They just exist, for no apparent reason. For how long is anybody’s guess.

That leaves Jeep. Jeep is a well-defined brand, despite their management’s best efforts to screw that up. They have a great product (the Wranglers), some above-average ones (Grand Cherokee, Liberty), and some me-too products and mistakes (Patriot, Compass, Commander). You could kill the Compass and Commander tomorrow, and have a stronger company. Undo the latest redesign to the Liberty, and you’d have a winner there. Amputate Jeep from Chrysler and you have a division that could be it’s own, successful company.

Here’s the question: why not?

Here’s the answer: because Jeep is the only part of Chrysler’s product portfolio that’s worth anything.

Pistonheads can argue that Dodge is worth saving. Maybe. There’s nothing wrong with the Ram trucks, the Challenger, or the Charger. But saving Dodge would take some work. Saving Jeep only requires getting rid of the rest of Chrysler.

Cerberus, the owners-du-jour of Chrysler, are begging for bailout bucks in D.C. Of course, since they are an equity firm, and the company is not publicly-traded, why We the People should be on the hook for their bailout is beyond me. If saving Chrysler is a good investment, why isn’t Cerberus stepping up to the plate?

The simple facts are these – Chrysler, like GM, needs to go bankrupt now. Any taxpayer cash infusion is just a delaying tactic. Jeep should be sold off, as a stand-alone company, or gobbled up by some healthy manufacturer. (My problem with that is that Jeep needs to stay an American brand – not Chinese, not Japanese, and not European.)

Will Jeep survive? I dunno. I tend to think so, because even if Chrysler goes under, the Jeep brand and the Wrangler are worth saving. Let’s hope so, because they make a vehicle that is quintessentially iconic, and a symbol of America, as much as the Mustang, the Corvette, and any land yacht you can name.