Jeep-Eagle
Encyclopedia
Chrysler
Chrysler Group LLC is a multinational automaker headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan, USA. Chrysler was first organized as the Chrysler Corporation in 1925....
after the US$
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
2 billion takeover
Takeover
In business, a takeover is the purchase of one company by another . In the UK, the term refers to the acquisition of a public company whose shares are listed on a stock exchange, in contrast to the acquisition of a private company.- Friendly takeovers :Before a bidder makes an offer for another...
of American Motors
American Motors
American Motors Corporation was an American automobile company formed by the 1954 merger of Nash-Kelvinator Corporation and Hudson Motor Car Company. At the time, it was the largest corporate merger in U.S. history.George W...
(AMC) in 1987. The division marketed a variety of vehicles until 1997.
History
The Jeep-Eagle Division was basically the remains of American Motors after being acquired by Chrysler, and its first group vice president was Joseph Cappy, who previously held the post of AMC president and chief executive officer. The new organization was responsible for continuing the promotion, sales, and product engineering for JeepJeep
Jeep is an automobile marque of Chrysler . The first Willys Jeeps were produced in 1941 with the first civilian models in 1945, making it the oldest off-road vehicle and sport utility vehicle brand. It inspired a number of other light utility vehicles, such as the Land Rover which is the second...
and the remaining AMC vehicles. It was a method to absorb nearly 1,200 American Motors dealers into Chrysler's distribution system and have them "meet stronger quality standards". The new division gave Chrysler three dealer organizations because state franchise laws prevented Chrysler from merging the AMC dealer network into its existing Chrysler-Plymouth or Dodge franchise systems, as well as preventing the sale of existing Chrysler products through AMC dealers. The automaker dropped the legacy line of AMC cars and AMC's dealers carried the popular Jeep
Jeep
Jeep is an automobile marque of Chrysler . The first Willys Jeeps were produced in 1941 with the first civilian models in 1945, making it the oldest off-road vehicle and sport utility vehicle brand. It inspired a number of other light utility vehicles, such as the Land Rover which is the second...
light-truck brand, the Medallion
Eagle Medallion
The Eagle Medallion was a rebadged and re-engineered North American version of the French Renault 21. While the cars were built on the same platform, the French market 21 and the American market Medallion differed in features, powertrain availability, frontal styling, and trims...
captive import, as well as the new Premier
Eagle Premier
The Eagle Premier was a full-size automobile developed by the American Motors Corporation and Renault partnership, inherited by Chrysler Corporation when it acquired AMC in 1987, and marketed from 1987 through 1992...
. The newly established Jeep-Eagle Division was a way to increase Jeep production and focus more money on marketing. The new "Eagle marketing umbrella" also developed versions of vehicles produced by Diamond-Star Motors
Diamond-Star Motors
Diamond-Star Motors was an automobile-manufacturing joint venture between the Chrysler Corporation and Mitsubishi Motors Corporation . The name came from the parent companies' respective logos: three diamonds and a pentastar...
.
Chrysler hoped to make Jeep-Eagle their "specialty division," selling products distinctly different from the K-car-based
Chrysler K platform
The Chrysler Corporation's K-cars were compact-to-midsize cars designed to carry six adults on two bench seats and were aimed not only to replace Chrysler's nominally-compact F-body Aspen and Volaré, but also to compete with intermediates like the Chevrolet Malibu and Ford Fairmont...
products. The Eagle
Eagle (automobile)
Eagle was a marque of the Chrysler Corporation following the purchase of American Motors Corporation and aimed at the enthusiast driver.Though short-lived, the Eagle Vision sedan sold in respectable numbers, while the sporty Eagle Talon sold more than 115,000 units.-Overview:Following the...
passenger cars were supposed to try and capture import buyers. However, they evolved from the innovative, full-sized Premier and the imported mid-sized Medallion into a hodgepodge of cars developed between Chrysler and Mitsubishi
Mitsubishi
The Mitsubishi Group , Mitsubishi Group of Companies, or Mitsubishi Companies is a Japanese multinational conglomerate company that consists of a range of autonomous businesses which share the Mitsubishi brand, trademark and legacy...
. Eventually, many Eagle-branded automobiles were duplicated at Dodge
Dodge
Dodge is a United States-based brand of automobiles, minivans, and sport utility vehicles, manufactured and marketed by Chrysler Group LLC in more than 60 different countries and territories worldwide....
and Chrysler-Plymouth
Chrysler-Plymouth
Chrysler-Plymouth was a division of the Chrysler Corporation, an American automobile company founded by Walter P. Chrysler. The division sold cars with both Chrysler and Plymouth brand names...
dealerships. Chrysler made a good-faith effort to give the Eagle brand an identity by offering an all wheel drive (AWD) Eagle Talon
Eagle Talon
The Eagle Talon was one of three model names given to a sports coupe that was manufactured between 1990 and 1999 and sold by the then Chrysler Corporation and Mitsubishi Motors of Japan in a joint 50/50 corporate venture known as Diamond-Star Motors...
, a carryover from the all-wheel drive AMC Eagle
AMC Eagle
The AMC Eagle is a compact-sized four-wheel drive passenger vehicle that was produced by American Motors Corporation . The AMC Eagle line of vehicles inaugurated a new product category of "sport-utility" or crossover SUV....
for which the brand was named. However, sales were hindered by marketing missteps.
The Jeep half of the division, however, remained the better-known and more popular brand. Chrysler latched on to the Jeep heritage and advertisements featured Lee Iacocca
Lee Iacocca
Lido Anthony "Lee" Iacocca is an American businessman known for engineering the Mustang, the unsuccessful Ford Pinto, being fired from Ford Motor Company, and his revival of the Chrysler Corporation in the 1980s...
assured that after Chrysler took over AMC, that "we won't fool around with an American institution. Jeep will stay Jeep. That's a promise." Many of the long-established AMC/Jeep dealers
Car dealership
A car dealership or vehicle local distribution is a business that sells new or used cars at the retail level, based on a dealership contract with an automaker or its sales subsidiary. It employs automobile salespeople to do the selling...
considered the new Eagle line of passenger cars to be less profitable than their Jeep business. American Motors had phased out domestic-built rear-wheel-drive passenger cars after 1983 and their captive front-wheel-drive imports did not achieve sales successes. Thus, AMC/Jeep dealer sales and service expertise was focused on the four-wheel drive
Four-wheel drive
Four-wheel drive, 4WD, or 4×4 is a four-wheeled vehicle with a drivetrain that allows all four wheels to receive torque from the engine simultaneously...
Jeeps and AMC's Eagle AWD models.
The objective of the Eagle Division was to target consumers that “are young, independent-minded, educated and affluent-baby boomers and their younger brothers and sisters, Generation X." Although Chrysler had planned to redesign the Eagle Vision
Eagle Vision
The Eagle Vision was a full-size, front-wheel drive sedan, marketed as a sports version of the Chrysler LH platform, produced from 1993-1997. It was sold by the Eagle division of the Chrysler Corporation, replacing the AMC/Renault-designed Eagle Premier...
for 1999, production continued only into September 1997. The model was later marketed as the Chrysler 300M
Chrysler 300M
The Chrysler 300M is a sports sedan produced by Chrysler from 1999 to 2004. Chrysler Corporation revived the 300 name on the 300M. This time it was a front-wheel drive, V6 engined car using the Chrysler LH platform. While not technically part of the famous "letter series" of the 1950s and 1960s,...
as the decision to drop Eagle brand was already made.
Jeep became a stand-alone division when the Eagle brand was retired shortly after Chrysler's merger with Daimler-Benz
Daimler-Benz
Daimler-Benz AG was a German manufacturer of automobiles, motor vehicles, and internal combustion engines; founded in 1926. An Agreement of Mutual Interest - which was valid until year 2000 - was signed on 1 May 1924 between Karl Benz's Benz & Cie., and Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft, which had...
in 1998, and efforts were made to merge the Chrysler and Jeep brands as one sales unit. Dealers with only the Chrysler franchise
Franchising
Franchising is the practice of using another firm's successful business model. The word 'franchise' is of anglo-French derivation - from franc- meaning free, and is used both as a noun and as a verb....
did not have a sport utility vehicle
Sport utility vehicle
A sport utility vehicle is a generic marketing term for a vehicle similar to a station wagon, but built on a light-truck chassis. It is usually equipped with four-wheel drive for on- or off-road ability, and with some pretension or ability to be used as an off-road vehicle. Not all four-wheel...
(SUV) to sell. Incorporating the Jeep line allowed them to compete in this popular market segment. While adding Jeep vehicles to Chrysler cars helped individual dealerships, it also eliminated the need to continue the Eagle brand.