Loving, hating Cherokee
The 2014 Jeep Cherokee has proven to be one of Chrysler’s most polarizing vehicles in years, spawning absolutist opinions on blogs, in forums, and on Facebook. Most of the comments have been vitriolic, but one question remains: how many people hate it, and does anyone like it?
An informal poll in the Allpar forums provides some insight. While most of the comments are of the “destroy it with fire” type, and quite a few people have referred to old and new renderings as superior alternatives, some have also said that the design has grown on them, or that they liked it from the start.
In the end, the 22% who believe it is absolutely awful have outnumbered everyone else combined in terms of posts per person; but we did not expect 17% of the people responding to say that they loved it, or 41% to say it was growing on them. The negative still outweighs the positive, but a love-hate reaction may not be as bad as it seems. To paraphrase one Chrysler leader when the 1994 Ram design was first shown, the percentage who love it is higher than Jeep’s current market share in the segment.
The survey is “unscientific” and comes from a non-representative, self-selected, and relatively small sample. However, it appeared in a forum where most of the commentary on the 2014 Jeep Cherokee has been negative, and may provide some vindication to the designers. The most valid feedback is likely to be the Cherokee’s sales figures. (Vote in the poll.)
