2014 Jeep Cherokee Shipping Still on Hold
Chrysler has already assembled 12,000 new Jeep Cherokees, but not a single one has made it into the hands of consumers yet.
That is because the brand is working to fix issues with the Cherokee’s nine-speed automatic transmission, and won’t allow the vehicles to be shipped until they are fully ready.
“Chrysler Group is in the final stages of validating the updated powertrain calibrations,” Gualberto Ranieri, vice president of communications for Chrysler told The Detroit News. “The company will not ship vehicles until we are fully satisfied the Cherokee meets customer expectations for performance, refinement and quality.”
Nothing less than smooth shifts will be tolerated, and it seems that the first batch of Cherokees have been experiencing rather rough gear changes. Seeing as this is a very important product for Chrysler, the brand needs it to launch with no flaws.
This delay may cause Chrysler to miss its financial targets for the third quarter, and possibly for the entire year.
[Source: The Detroit News]
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Stephen covers all of the day-to-day events of the industry as the News Editor at AutoGuide, along with being the AG truck expert. His truck knowledge comes from working long days on the woodlot with pickups and driving straight trucks professionally. When not at his desk, Steve can be found playing his bass or riding his snowmobile or Sea-Doo. Find Stephen on <A title="@Selmer07 on Twitter" href="http://www.twitter.com/selmer07">Twitter</A> and <A title="Stephen on Google+" href="http://plus.google.com/117833131531784822251?rel=author">Google+</A>
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Maybe they should just scrap it and build a real Cherokee with solid axles and a sub 4000 pound curb weight and the ability to take a corner at a decent clip and not roll over.
Maybe Chrysler/Jeep has learned its lesson from what has been happening with the Grand Cherokee. Having a second Jeep vehicle in the market with the same types of issues plaguing the GC really would kill the brand.