The Last Company To Produce A Car This Ugly Went Out Of Business
Jason Lancaster | Feb 22, 2013 | Comments 19
If you haven’t seen the secretly obtained photo of the new 2014 Jeep Cherokee, than put down your coffee (or beer) and try not to do a spit-take all over your keyboard.
2014 Jeep Cherokee, as seen on Jalopnik.com (it’s their photo – click the image to see the original story).
Ugly, right? Not just ugly, but really, really ugly. Pontiac Aztek ugly.
The Pontiac Aztek was so ugly that it put Pontiac out of business (well, sort of).
And comparing this new Jeep to the Aztek is 100% on-point, because the last company to make a car this ugly went out of business.
Simply stated, the design failure of the 2014 Jeep Cherokee may very well be evidence of severe problems at Chrysler-Fiat.
Major Design Failures Represent Major Business Failures
To understand the gravity of this failure, you have to understand the design process.
- A designer comes up with an idea. He (or she) works through this concept with a team of designers, all of whom work together to come up with something they like well enough to send it up the chain.
- A vehicle manager (typically the guy or gal in charge of producing the vehicle from beginning to end) will review the designs, tweak them, and then move them up the chain for approval.
- Someone very senior – perhaps even the head of the company – will review the design, weigh in on changes/adjustments, and then give tacit or explicit approval to proceed.
The point? There were multiple people involved in this failure. Dozens, perhaps. When we see an ugly car make it all the way to production, we’re seeing evidence of a failed process. Everyone in the chain – from the designer on up to Chrysler-Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne himself – is partially to blame.
To be fair, perhaps these photos aren’t the actual production model. Perhaps the lighting is really bad, or perhaps this car looks much better in person than it does online.
Still, Jeep’s failure here could have widespread consequences.
Business Failures Lead to Failed Businesses
Finally, it’s important to recognize that business failures like this can be an indication of a company’s ultimate undoing. When Pontiac produced the Aztek to public ridicule, it was more than just a lemon. It was their undoing. From CarThrottle.com:
[the Aztek] is arguably the number one reason for the failure of the Pontiac brand…the Aztek Concept was actually pretty radical, and would have fit into the Pontiac Stable quite nicely. However, after the production engineers and the cost accountants had their say in cutting the budget, the end product was one of the most horrendous products ever to be put on sale…this particular car will be used as an example of bad decisions in business schools across the country for years to come
While I’m not sure if the 2014 Cherokee’s failed design is due to cost-cutting, and I really don’t think Jeep is going to file bankruptcy, I continue to believe that Chrysler-Fiat’s future (and the future of the Ram brand as well) is very much up in the air. From huge drops in projected cash-flow to major problems turning a profit in Europe, Chrysler-Fiat is not without challenges.
Add in a major blunder like the 2014 Cherokee, and there’s good reason to question the company’s future.
Thoughts?
Filed Under: Auto News
Looking at the previous year model, you can see the direction they were TRYING to head in. Unfortunately, the grille design was questionable in 2013. If they had realized that the shape of the hood kept the poor grille design mostly hidden, they would have come to a better conclusion. Removing the hiding aspect of the hood and highlighting the grille is a MAJOR flaw.
The really tough part is normally car makers like Jeep stamp out their aluminium plating for the entire model year (s). This long-term planning keeps costs down. If the response is very poor to this design (as it should be), they will have to spend a TON of money for a new aluminium piece to change it. That isn’t including making any other design changes.
What a colossally poor business mistake! Hopefully, the response will be so poor to this “leaked” image, Chrysler/Fiat see their mistake and quickly react.
-Tim
Uh, I think you are confusing this Cherokee with the Grand Cherokee – NOT the same vehicle! There was no “previous year model” and no “grille design was questionable in 2013.”
They haven’t built a Cherokee since 2001. Well, they sold the Liberty outside the US renamed as Cherokee… but I don’t think you wear referring to that.
My lord this thing is hideous. The lower grille looks like it was stolen from a Kia. The lights look like the car should be upside down and the rest looks like a drunk was trying to copy the Juke! My eyes are actually hurting from looking at this, wait is this and early April Fools day joke??
The profile looks like a copy of the Mazda CX7 & CX9. The hideousness of that grille will haunt my dreams for the rest of my life. Car based platform is not a good idea if they want to win back the customers they lost after they switched to the Liberty, they need to rethink the Alfa Romeo platform this thing is based on. The compass and all the small CUV’s they have been making have all been a failure. You’d think they would have fixed this after the last bankruptcy. For an iconic product such as the Jeep Cherokee, you make improvements on a an existing platform or at least go back to basics and look at the formula of what made it sell so well in the first place. I like Alfa Romeo products from years past and don’t doubt their abilities as a cars but for an iconic product like the Jeep Cherokee, someone is not making smart decisions and I hate to say it but, you’re correct. That kind of thinking will lead this organization back to begging for taxpayer money again to stay afloat.
On second thoughts, the profile is more like the first generation Hyundai Santa Fe, which was also really ugly.
I saw a similar looking Nissan yesterday that was at least as ugly. I’m not sure what model it was. It was going the opposite direction in traffic so all I caught was the Nissan badge on the grille.
my neighbor bought a nissan juke very different overall from any other kind of car. Fairly room and comfy for 4 inside but the front end is odd for sure and no center armrest or storage in the middle will not buy one, plus runs on premium gas since 4 cylinder turbo charged. Too expensive for me for what you get but people like my neighbor who is odd to begin with likes it. Different folks for different folks I always say.
Great commentary, Jason.
It takes an unusually high number of ignorant and arrogant managers in a company to screw something up this bad. Which is why investors ought to be pretty nervous right now, as it is good management they value most.
Investors ought to be wondering WHO is responsible for hiring these managers, who silenced and/or disregarded so many voices in their company, such that a blatant error like this got by. It is only a matter of time before a FATAL mistake occurs, one as serious and obvious as a horrific design misjudgment like the Aztek, or major market miscalculation such as the $40,000 hybrid Volt.
Wow! What can you say to an ugly vehicle? Okay you’re one ugly $%^&^&(*)(.
I think the company has plans for this jeep but yet the failed to it features. This Jeeps ugly and not interesting at all.
Remember, Volkswagen managed to sell the “Thing.” And even more amazing, AMC sold the Gremlin, Matador, and Pacer. No accounting for taste, or lack thereof.
People thouight the thing was similar to the bug but it wasn’t. Squared off version of the bug I can say the least.
Looks like a chinese version!!!
Does Jeep think it can pull off this insult to humanity?
here’s an idea. why not just make a miniature, less expensive version if the Grand Cherokee. for those that love the look of the GC but cant afford it.
Makes a ton of sense! That probably answers your question right there, doesn’t it? If Chrysler did things that made a ton of sense, they wouldn’t be Chrysler, right? 🙂
id probably 86 the compass too. 5 models is enough. Grand Cherokee. Cherokee. Patriot. Wrangler & Wrangler Unlimited. Keep it simple.
The Toyota tundra isn’t far behind and falls nicely inn to the ugly category
The jeep Cherokee is almost as ugly as Toyota’s whole line up!!