[Allpar News System]

According to an Automotive News article by Larry Vellequette, new body shops at Toledo Assembly (which makes Cherokee) and Belvidere Assembly (which makes Dart, Compass, and Patriot) were designed to be interchangeable, taking advantage of the common platform elements in Dodge Dart, Chrysler 200, Jeep Cherokee, and presumably the forthcoming Jeep Compass/Patriot replacement. The new body shop, over a quarter million square feet in footprint, can build four different models. The Toledo plant will be making 400 Cherokees per day within three weeks, according to the plant manager, as quoted by Automotive News. The goal is to build one Cherokee every minute, with two shifts (the second shift starts at the end of August). Production of models for public sale began on June 24, around 11 months after its predecessor, the Jeep Liberty, ended its production run. It will take one to two months for Cherokees to reach dealerships. While..

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[Erik Latranyi]

The Toledo plant will be making 400 Cherokees per day within three weeks.....

That is not the slow ramp-up we have seen lately.

 

[RVC]

But they started a month ago...

 

[MoparNorm]

The Toledo plant will be making 400 Cherokees per day within three weeks.....

That is not the slow ramp-up we have seen lately.

1st and 2nd shift and full production right out the gate, seems to be putting all your eggs in one basket if demand is not as high as their lofty projections.

 

[JKU12]

I still don't understand the skepticism over whether the Cherokee can sell well.

1) We all know that the debate as to whether it's a "real Jeep" vs a really nice "on-road car" should really have little bearing on sales numbers. Just look at GC sales. Or look at any of the top selling mid-sized "SUVs" for clues.

2) Design-wise, some seem leery on the front and back end. Again though, I point to the styling cues of many of the best selling vehicles in this class, and to me, I think this Cherokee is way better than looking than most if not all. I can't imagine anyone thinking Escape looks better than this.

I would think recent mis-steps in launches would be more likely to hurt sales of the Cherokee than the Cherokee itself.

 

[ShadowRider]

The Toledo plant will be making 400 Cherokees per day within three weeks.....

That is not the slow ramp-up we have seen lately.

They have already been building about 20 a day for 4 months.

 

[superduckie5000]

The Plant Has Been Putting Them Together Since January.

Slow But That Was the Plan.

TMD

 

[marlon_jbt]

Yup. TNAP started running KLs right around the same time we started non-pilot, production 2014 Grand Cherokees.

 

[dodgeatheart]

The Plant Has Been Putting Them Together Since January.

Slow But That Was the Plan.

TMD

Is this normal before a new model?

 

[marlon_jbt]

Very normal. They are called Pilot Builds. They have several uses. Road testing, emissions, crash testing, media vehicles and a whole list of other reasons. Most of them sadly end up in the crusher.

 

[dodgeatheart]

Has this been posted yet?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZXnk7uDMJI

What I am a little worried about is rear seat leg room/foot space. However, at 5:15 you can see that the guy talking here has a pretty good amount of leg room up front, leading me to believe the front seats are way back. You can also see that the headrest is behind the B-pillar a few seconds later. I can't tell how tall the Jeep guy is in the green shirt, but he doesn't appear to be less than 6 ft tall.

 

[Stratuscaster]

That was actually somewhat painful to watch, and brings to light a whole lot of what points are being (and have been) discussed in the DoJ thread.

 

[suzq044]

That was actually somewhat painful to watch, and brings to light a whole lot of what points are being (and have been) discussed in the DoJ thread.

I didn't have audio at the time I watched this; but simply by the TITLE of the video, that person is confused. Probably not a Press person; not the best video angles or shooting. Seemed like it was cellphone shot.. granted a lot of people seem to see the word "Cherokee" and instantly think of the Grand'. Doesn't make searching for info on the Cherokee easy either.

 

[kcoc]

Jeep guy seems to be pretty happy w/ the flat black hood decal, colored tow hooks and trail rated badge. Ouch! Did I hear him say that grille is somehow related to the TJ? The Jeep cargo management system is a collapsible water tight bag? I am sure there is more to it but I glad he told us you can put stuff in it. On the positive side looks like a very nice interior w/ lots of features.

 

[MoparNorm]

That was actually somewhat painful to watch, and brings to light a whole lot of what points are being (and have been) discussed in the DoJ thread.

Extremely painful to watch.
Several controls didn't function as planned, rear seat space so small, they didn't get in and a malfunctioning headrest that prevented the seat from folding down flat.
Very small rear area and the solution,... a "Jeep" milk crate... :huh:

 

[RVC]

Let me open the trunk...oops, sorry that didn't work
Ah, the 7" display: you can customizeit like you want to, because you know maybe you have different preferences than you or I would (uuhh, ok?).
And of course, here's the Navigation...oops, didn't start it beforehand so it's not ready, sorry about that.
And here's the Internet connection...oops, they didn't activate the Access plan on this car, so it won't run.
And here's the rear seat which you can bring forth for baby seat "capability"!
And you can also fold it down (unless you have the front sear all the way back, apparently. The headrest looks 1" too tall, or should be made to fold down.)
And here's the bag in the trunk for added "capability" (as in grocery bags, crucial Jeep stuff)
Man, is it hot in here, 'cause I'm sweating like a pig....phew, maybe it's because I have no idea what the hell I'm saying....

Oh, and the messed up front headlight arrangement? Well, that's because Jeep prides itself on design...

AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!

This guy should be given a one week GITMO vacation package, ASAP. But in any case, it's a soccer mum product.

As a side note: who the heck is Chrysler using to upholster the seats?! They are all puffy and creased, the leather looks like leatherette...it's the same problems that you see in the Dart. When you see the images of the seats in the Cherokee site, they look like some fancy import car's seat; it's false advertising IMO.

 

[y2kyamr6]

[SIZE=14pt]Wow, maybe the Jeep guy should figure out how to operate the vehicle and show it before he tries to demonstrate anything. He could make a Ferrari look bad.[/SIZE]

 

[Erik Latranyi]

I think most people forget this is a Dart-sized CUV and think they will get interior room closer to a Grand Cherokee or Journey. They will be disappointed.

I've noticed that most headrests no longer fold forward (like Liberty) when folding the rear seats. That eats up space and forces the owner to move front seats to fold back seats.

You can tell this vehicle was brought to this show and never setup for demonstration.

 

[kakoktim]

If and when Cherokee is Dart sized, is there really a room for Compass/Patriot replacement?. Are they too close to each other in terms of size. Sounds too much overlapping to me, keeping mind that B-Jeep will be Juke sized

I think most people forget this is a Dart-sized CUV and think they will get interior room closer to a Grand Cherokee or Journey. They will be disappointed.

I've noticed that most headrests no longer fold forward (like Liberty) when folding the rear seats. That eats up space and forces the owner to move front seats to fold back seats.

You can tell this vehicle was brought to this show and never setup for demonstration.

 

[dodgeatheart]

Wow, you guys are so critical. It was obviously a laid back walk through of the vehicle. I felt the importance of it was actually seeing the interior and exterior in an informal, more realistic way. First video of it's kind that I have seen.