Jeep in Australia 1991 - 2006

‘Memo to Chrysler: we don’t want nor need the Jeep Wrangler or Cherokee’. This, rather pontifical, comment was penned by a Sydney Morning Herald motoring writer, following news that Chrysler was planning to re-introduce the Jeep brand to the Australian market.

To those outside the automotive industry, it would seem a savage comment. But, as time would show, there were many motoring writers with similarly poor opinions of the Jeep product. Chrysler executives had spent a couple years trying to convince a number of Australian motor distributors to take on Jeep. It was a hard slog: Jeep wasn’t highly regarded in the industry, the only vehicle on offer (at the time) was the XJ Cherokee that was already a ten-year old design, and Chrysler’s pricing and sales volume projections were considered to be overly optimistic.

Since its initial marketing by Willys in 1945, the distribution of Jeep had been akin to an international game of musical chairs. From Willys, Jeep went to Kaiser-Frazer, then to American Motors (which was subsequently controlled by Renault) and finally to Chrysler. The trickle-down effect of these changes resulted in a huge churn of dealerships in the USA, and internationally.

In Australia, Jeep was more like a Pass the Parcel game: nobody seemed to want to hold it for long! In New South Wales (the most populous state), between 1976 and 1982, there where four state distributors: LNC Industries, Gilbert & Roach, Renault Australia and, finally, the AMC-owned Jeep Australia. In 1993, Chrysler appointed Hyundai Automotive Distributors Australia (HADA) to look after Jeep nationally.

In a way it was a strange move. HADA had been very successful marketing low-priced Korean cars, but had no experience with 4WDs, or vehicles aimed at the more-affluent customer. The Jeep side of the operation was to be known as Chrysler Jeep Automotive Distributors Australia (CJADA). One Jeep parts specialist quipped that CJADA could be an acronym for, Can Jeep Australia Die Again. He was almost proved right. When I mentioned, to an HADA executive, that I thought many motoring journalists were likely to write negative reports on the XJ, he dismissed my comment with this classic statement: ‘The journos are not hard to butter-up. We’ll just make sure they, or their wives, have the use of Hyundai press cars whenever they need them’.

The first HADA-organized Cherokee press-drive was a disaster. A bunch or writers, including the one who claimed Australians didn’t want Jeeps, were sent Colorado to try the vehicles in their natural habitat. However, a communication glitch resulted in no Cherokees being available. As a desperate measure, HADA rounded up some Jeeps from Dollar Rent-A-Car for the writers to test. Some of the forthcoming stories were not favorable. A Daily Mirror editorial said, ‘it’s going to take a lot more than an historic name to sell the 750 units a year planned for an Aussie market’. Modern Motor magazine’s representative didn’t mince words in his report, ‘The good news was that we had arrived at the hotel. The bad news was that we eventually had to drive the Jeeps back to Denver.’

The XJ Cherokee was finally released in April, 1994 and the sales figures were a surprise. Far from struggling to move 750 a year, the dealers were soon moving almost 400 every month. The Australian customers liked the Jeep package, which offered compact dimensions and lots of low-down torque, courtesy of the big, ex-Rambler, six-cylinder.
For several years the XJ Jeep Cherokee sold well, even though some reviews were still less than complimentary. In 1996, the range expanded to include the ZJ Grand Cherokee and the TJ Wrangler.

But by 1998, the competition in the 4WD segment had heated up and Jeep was losing ground. HADA’s CEO astounded many dealers when he announced to the press that, if Chrysler couldn’t reduce their pricing, he would quit the distributorship. Not really the news that Jeep dealers would want potential customers to hear. Chrysler gave HADA notice that it would take the reins from January 1, 1999.

Since 1999, the Australian market has seen an influx of new-model Chrysler products. Good management and excellent marketing, has also resulted in strong sales and recognition by the public (and the press!) that the brand deserves to be successful in Australia.