Yahoo Autos Jeep Cherokee rides into the automotive sunset
After making a name for itself nearly a half-century ago, the Jeep Cherokee, which has endured off and on through a number of iterations, has been chopped from the lineup. But the name will live on. Sort of.
What started life as a body-on-frame SUV in 1974 later morphed into the resilient XJ built from 1984 to 2001, when it was replaced by the Liberty. The Cherokee also lived on through licensed production in China through 2014, when Jeep reintroduced the Cherokee name back into its North American lineup with a midsize crossover. But the Cherokee by then had lost its luster.
On March 1, Stellantis idled the Belvidere Assembly plant in Illinois, where the Cherokee was made. There were suggestions that the plant be shuttered permanently depending on future negotiations with the United Auto Workers.
