Jeep Cherokee review

1. Introduction

It wouldn’t be unfair to say that when the original 4x4 boom happened in the early 1990s, the Jeep Cherokee was at its heart. Not only was it, at the time, the volume-seller within a product offensive that marked the return of American brands to the UK after a long absence, it was the vehicle which, perhaps above all others, symbolised what off-road vehicles had become.
Two decades earlier, the Range Rover had created the concept of the premium 4x4. But the Cherokee did something perhaps even more important: it was a premium 4x4 for the average man. It was something you’d choose instead of a big Audi or Volvo. It was a family estate car – which also happened to be an off-roader. It would be entirely reasonable to list it as one of the definitive vehicles of modern times.
Now, the Cherokee’s place in the grand scheme of things is very different. As Jeep brings the third-generation model to the market, the challenges it faces are manifold.
For starters, people are a lot less gung-ho to buy traditional 4x4s than they were back then. The glorious 4.0-litre petrol engine that gave the old Cherokee so much character has long gone, but even with a far more frugal diesel unit it’s still up against machines that don’t even pretend to be off-roaders.
There’s also the fact that the market is a lot more crowded than it was then. And it’s crowded with the sort of vehicles that shift in big numbers; the RAV4, Freelander, X-Trail and Kuga are all in a similar price bracket, but Jeep has to be sanguine about the
fact that the Cherokee is never going to match their sales figures.
Why? Simply because while so many manufacturers are turning soft, the Cherokee remains a proper off-roader. It has low box, and it has a live rear axle. It may not be as hardcore as the original 1993 model, which had a live front axle, too, but it’s still the real thing.

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