Jeep-Eagle
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Jeep-Eagle was the name of the automobile sales division created by the
Chrysler Corporation FCA US, LLC, doing business as Stellantis North America and known historically as Chrysler ( ), is one of the " Big Three" automobile manufacturers in the United States, headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It is the American subsidiary of ...
after the
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2 billion
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of
American Motors Corporation American Motors Corporation (AMC; commonly referred to as American Motors) was an American automobile manufacturing company formed by the mergers and acquisitions, merger of Nash-Kelvinator Corporation and Hudson Motor Car Company on May 1, 19 ...
(AMC) in 1987. The division marketed a variety of vehicles until 1997. The division focused on the commercialisation of
Jeep Jeep is an American automobile brand, now owned by multi-national corporation Stellantis. Jeep has been part of Chrysler since 1987, when Chrysler acquired the Jeep brand, along with other assets, from its previous owner, American Motors Co ...
and
Eagle Eagle is the common name for the golden eagle, bald eagle, and other birds of prey in the family of the Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of Genus, genera, some of which are closely related. True eagles comprise the genus ''Aquila ( ...
brands of vehicles.


History

The Jeep-Eagle Division consisted mostly of what was left of American Motors after its acquisition by Chrysler. The first group vice president was
Joseph E. Cappy Joseph E. Cappy (born May 13, 1934) is an American business executive who was the final president and chief executive officer of American Motors Corporation and the first president and CEO of the Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group. Early life Capp ...
, 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
Jeep Jeep is an American automobile brand, now owned by multi-national corporation Stellantis. Jeep has been part of Chrysler since 1987, when Chrysler acquired the Jeep brand, along with other assets, from its previous owner, American Motors Co ...
and the remaining AMC vehicles, most notably the
Eagle Eagle is the common name for the golden eagle, bald eagle, and other birds of prey in the family of the Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of Genus, genera, some of which are closely related. True eagles comprise the genus ''Aquila ( ...
model. 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.


Eagle

Upon completion of the merger, Chrysler rebranded the
Renault Medallion A medal or medallion is a small portable artistic object, a thin disc, normally of metal, carrying a design, usually on both sides. They typically have a commemorative purpose of some kind, and many are presented as awards. They may be in ...
under the Eagle marque and discontinued the
Renault Alliance The Renault Alliance was a front-wheel drive, front-engine Subcompact car, subcompact automobile manufactured and marketed in North America by American Motors Corporation (AMC) for model years 1983–1987. The Alliance and its subsequent hatchb ...
, Encore, and GTA models. AMC's dealers continued to market and service the popular
Jeep Jeep is an American automobile brand, now owned by multi-national corporation Stellantis. Jeep has been part of Chrysler since 1987, when Chrysler acquired the Jeep brand, along with other assets, from its previous owner, American Motors Co ...
light-truck brand. They also were responsible for selling the new
Eagle Premier The Eagle Premier is a full-size executive car that was developed by American Motors Corporation (AMC) during the 1980s through its partnership with Renault. This model was manufactured in the then-brand-new Brampton Assembly in Canada. Chry ...
, which Renault and AMC had been working on since 1982 and were originally planning on releasing in 1987 before the merger. The four-door sedan was manufactured at the new AMC plant in Canada from September 1987 (for the 1988
model year The model year (sometimes abbreviated as MY) is a method of describing the version of a product which has been produced over multiple years. The model year may or may not be the same as the calendar year in which the product was manufactured. ...
) until December 1991 (for the 1992 model year). Upon its release, the Eagle Premier was described as "a world-class car" by automotive journalists and was praised for its "... incredible 122 cubic feet of interior room..." along with "European handling." A review in the October 1987 issue of ''
Popular Mechanics ''Popular Mechanics'' (often abbreviated as ''PM'' or ''PopMech'') is a magazine of popular science and technology, featuring automotive, home, outdoor, electronics, science, do it yourself, and technology topics. Military topics, aviation an ...
'' magazine praised its "...state-of-the-art electronics..." The newly established Jeep-Eagle Division business strategy was to increase Jeep production and focus more money on marketing. From 1988, the new "Eagle marketing umbrella" also marketed versions of vehicles produced by
Diamond-Star Motors Mitsubishi Motors North America, Inc. Manufacturing Division (originally, Diamond-Star Motors) was an automobile-manufacturing joint venture between the Chrysler Corporation and Mitsubishi Motors.
. Chrysler hoped to make Jeep-Eagle their "specialty division," selling products distinctly different from the K-car-based products. The
Eagle Eagle is the common name for the golden eagle, bald eagle, and other birds of prey in the family of the Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of Genus, genera, some of which are closely related. True eagles comprise the genus ''Aquila ( ...
passenger cars were supposed to try to 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 The is a group of autonomous Japanese multinational companies in a variety of industries. Founded by Yatarō Iwasaki in 1870, the Mitsubishi Group traces its origins to the Mitsubishi zaibatsu, a unified company that existed from 1870 to 194 ...
. The
Eagle Summit The Eagle Summit is a line of subcompact cars produced for two generations by Mitsubishi and sold by Eagle from 1989 until 1996. It was marketed as a captive import by the Jeep-Eagle sales division that was established after Chrysler Corporatio ...
, a rebadged second-generation
Mitsubishi Mirage The Mitsubishi Mirage is a range of cars produced by the Japanese manufacturer Mitsubishi from 1978 until 2003 and again from 2012 to 2024. The hatchback models produced between 1978 and 2003 were classified as subcompact cars, while the sedan ...
, joined the
Dodge Colt The Dodge Colt is a subcompact car manufactured by Mitsubishi Motors and marketed by Dodge for model years 1971 to 1994 as a captive import. Rebadged variants included the Plymouth Champ and Plymouth Colt, both were marketed by Plymouth. The ...
and
Plymouth Colt Plymouth ( ) is a port city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers Plym and Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and southwest of London. It is the most populous city in Dev ...
starting in 1989 as Chrysler wound down the assembly of its subcompact
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and
Dodge Omni The Dodge Omni is a subcompact, subcompact car that was manufactured by Chrysler, Chrysler Corporation from the 1978 to 1990 model years. Marketed alongside the Plymouth Horizon, the Omni was the first front-wheel drive Chrysler vehicle; the pai ...
twins and to replace the Renault Alliance discontinued in 1987. In Canada the Summit range were sold as the
Eagle Vista The Eagle Vista name has been used on two subcompact cars sold from 1988 to 1992 in Canada. Along with the Eagle Summit, the car replaced the Renault Alliance/Encore because of Renault's withdrawing from the United States and Canada at that tim ...
. The Eagle Summit line continued through the extent of the Mirage's fourth generation, which ended in 1996. Using their own designs and the AMC/Renault
Eagle Premier The Eagle Premier is a full-size executive car that was developed by American Motors Corporation (AMC) during the 1980s through its partnership with Renault. This model was manufactured in the then-brand-new Brampton Assembly in Canada. Chry ...
platform, Chrysler released the
Eagle Vision The Eagle Vision is a full-sized, front-wheel drive four-door sports sedan produced from 1992 until 1997. Marketed by the newly-formed Eagle brand by Chrysler Corporation, it replaced the AMC/Renault-designed Eagle Premier from which the c ...
and almost-identical (first-generation) Chrysler Concorde in 1992. The Vision was built until 1997 and was exported to Europe as the Chrysler Vision. The sedan model earned itself ''
Automobile Magazine An automobile magazine is a magazine with news and reports on cars and the Automotive industry, automobile industry. Automobile magazines may feature new car tests and comparisons, which describe advantages and disadvantages of similar models ...
's'' Automobile of the Year in 1993. The Vision ultimately became the only Eagle-brand model to be wholly designed and built in-house by Chrysler. Chrysler made a good-faith effort to give the Eagle brand an identity by offering an
all wheel drive An all-wheel drive vehicle (AWD vehicle) is one with a powertrain capable of providing power to all its wheels, whether full-time or on-demand. Types The most common forms of all-wheel drive are: ;1x1 : All unicycles Reflects one axle with ...
(AWD) Eagle Talon, basically a
badge engineered In the automotive industry, rebadging (also known as badge engineering, an intentionally ironic misnomer in that little or no actual engineering takes place) is a form of market segmentation used by automobile manufacturers around the world. T ...
Mitsubishi Eclipse AWD, however sales were hindered by marketing missteps.


Jeep

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 Lido Anthony "Lee" Iacocca ( ; October 15, 1924 – July 2, 2019) was an American automobile executive who developed the Ford Mustang, Lincoln Continental Mark III, and Ford Pinto cars while at the Ford Motor Company in the 1960s, and then reviv ...
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 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 Japanese front-wheel-drive imports did not achieve sales successes. Thus, AMC/Jeep dealer sales and service expertise was focused on the
four-wheel drive A four-wheel drive, also called 4×4 ("four by four") or 4WD, is a two-axled vehicle drivetrain capable of providing torque to all of its wheels simultaneously. It may be full-time or on-demand, and is typically linked via a transfer case pr ...
Jeeps and AMC's Eagle AWD models. Chrysler marketed the SJ Jeep Grand Wagoneer until 1991, leaving it almost entirely unaltered from the final American Motors rendition before the buyout. The
Jeep Comanche The Jeep Comanche (designated MJ) is a pickup truck variant of the Cherokee compact SUV (1984–1992) manufactured and marketed by Jeep for model years 1986-1992 in rear wheel (RWD) and four-wheel drive (4WD) models as well as two cargo bed len ...
pickup truck remained until 1992, the
Jeep Wrangler (YJ) The Jeep Wrangler YJ is the first generation of Jeep Wrangler four-wheel drive small off-road vehicles, rebadging and succeeding Jeep's CJ series, which was produced from 1944 to 1986. The first Wrangler (internally "YJ") was launched in 1986 and ...
was produced until 1995, while the
Jeep Cherokee (XJ) The Jeep Cherokee (XJ) is a sport utility vehicle developed by American Motors Corporation (AMC) and marketed across a single generation by Jeep in the United States from 1983 (model year 1984) through 2001 — and globally through 2014. It was ...
remained until 2001 in the United States. Although it was not introduced until 1993, the
Jeep Grand Cherokee The Jeep Grand Cherokee is a range of mid-sized sport utility vehicles produced by American manufacturer Jeep. At its introduction, while most SUVs were still manufactured with body-on-frame construction, the Grand Cherokee has used a unibody ...
was initially an American Motors-developed vehicle. Subsequent Jeep models were designed, engineered and built by Chrysler for Jeep-Eagle until Chrysler's acquisition by
Daimler-Benz Mercedes-Benz Group AG (formerly Daimler-Benz, DaimlerChrysler, and Daimler) is a Germany, German Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive company headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is o ...
in 1998.


End of the brand

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." However, Eagle customers purchased similar Dodge, Plymouth, or Chrysler vehicles; thus, according to the automaker, the decline in Eagle models no longer justified the investment required to maintaining the brand. Although Chrysler had planned to redesign the
Eagle Vision The Eagle Vision is a full-sized, front-wheel drive four-door sports sedan produced from 1992 until 1997. Marketed by the newly-formed Eagle brand by Chrysler Corporation, it replaced the AMC/Renault-designed Eagle Premier from which the c ...
for 1999, production continued only into September 1997. The model was later marketed as the
Chrysler 300M The Chrysler 300M is a full-size luxury car that was produced by Daimler AG, Daimler/Chrysler from 1999 to 2004. It is a front-wheel drive, V6 engined car using the Chrysler LH platform. Versus its platform mates, the 300M was roughly shorter ...
as the decision to drop the 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 Mercedes-Benz Group AG (formerly Daimler-Benz, DaimlerChrysler, and Daimler) is a Germany, German Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive company headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is o ...
in 1998, and efforts were made to merge the Chrysler and Jeep brands as one sales unit. Dealers with only the Chrysler franchise did not have a
sport utility vehicle A sport utility vehicle (SUV) is a car classification that combines elements of road-going passenger cars with features from off-road vehicles, such as raised ground clearance and four-wheel drive. There is no commonly agreed-upon definitio ...
(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.


References

{{Chrysler LLC Jeep American Motors Chrysler