Why Liberty in USA and Cherokee in RSA, Oz, UK., etc?

[Watty]

By now most of us Jeep KJ fanatics know that our wheels are marketed under two different "names", that is the Liberty in the US (Canada?) and elsewhere in the world (South Africa, Europe, Australia, etc.) it is known as the Cherokee.

Any clear reasons why DC went this way to market under two different names?

 

[Derek Mc]

Can't prove my suspicion but I always wondered this one too.
My theory is as follows the name Cherokee is relatively new outside of the continental US as a brand and model, where in the USA it has been known for many years. It may have been seen as less of a risk to change to Liberty to coincide with the new model in the USA but felt that the brand was not well known and understood by the mainline consumer to change it in the other markets.
As I say my suspicion only. :-s

 

[palla]

Not too sure in other countries but there already is a Liberty in Aus. Its made by Subaru. In other countries they might have the same name for a different car but not over here.



http://subaru.com.au/explore/liberty/

This is a liberty in Aus.

 

[eddiev9]

My theory in Korea... it is due to name recognition. If they hear "Cherokee" they automatically think "Jeep". If a "Liberty" popped out here suddenly, I guess people would not recognize it well enough to gain popularity.

It seems to work both ways. In the US, the Hyundai Elantra kept its name while in Korea it's been changed to Hyundai Avante for years. Same with the Accent...been changed to Verna for years. If those Hyundai models would have changed their names stateside, most likely they would have lost recognition and revenue.

Basically, my theory is marketing/advertising purposes.

 

[Se7enLC]

I've heard two different parts for the reasoning.

First, they intended for the Liberty to actually BE the new cherokee, but since we have a grand cherokee, Jeep didn't want to make it confusing by having two entirely different vehicles with the same name.

So now that they decided on the name Liberty, they found out that the name was already taken outside the US, so they had to go with Cherokee.

 

[incommando]

I also have read in a few sources that the name Liberty was already licensed in other markets.

 

[Corwyyn]

Not too sure in other countries but there already is a Liberty in Aus. Its made by Subaru. In other countries they might have the same name for a different car but not over here.

http://subaru.com.au/explore/liberty/

This is a liberty in Aus.

Yeah, I was just googling that and it looks like the Australian 'Liberty' is marketed as the 'Legacy' in the US - apparently they had the same problem with the name being taken. For my money, they can have the 'Liberty' moniker and let me have a 'Cherokee' but thats just me. I've even thought of getting someone overseas to pick me up some 'Cherokee' badges to put on my Lib just so I can be different (biggrin)

 

[Marlon_JB2]

That's exactly it... the name "Liberty" was taken in Australia. So... they had to call it Cherokee everywhere else. Personally, I don't get it.... should have just named it Cherokee everywhere.

Which reminds me... one of these days, I shall pick up my Cherokee badges!

 

[incommando]

I wonder if you can get the "Cherokee" side moldings for an '05 yet?

 

[Corwyyn]

That's exactly it... the name "Liberty" was taken in Australia. So... they had to call it Cherokee everywhere else. Personally, I don't get it.... should have just named it Cherokee everywhere.

Which reminds me... one of these days, I shall pick up my Cherokee badges!

Hey Marlon, I was checking out the side badges for the 99-03(04?) Grand Cherokees and they use the same lettering style; then I happened across a Cherokee Classic in a parking lot here and it uses the same lettering as well, so you could probably go down and pick up the door badges for one of those and use them \/ As for the '05, those door moldings might be available over in the UK. Ah, things to ponder...

 

[styng88]

I just found new love for Australia. An STi tuned Legacy (Liberty to them.)

 

[Corwyyn]

I just found new love for Australia. An STi tuned Legacy (Liberty to them.)

Yeah, its amazing how you got to the subaru US site and there are 4 basic package options - 2 sedans and 2 wagons. Then you go to the Aussy site and WHOA NELLIE! Where'd all these packages come from?

 

[UKKJ]

THe UK has had the Cherokee names since about 93/94...when we started importing the the square one!! ... I am not sure, at the same time (or not long after) we got the WJ...

I can't think of a licensing reason in the UK...DC just must have thought that us brits wouldn't understand a name change!!

I do like the liberty name acutally....it would be cool and different to swap.

 

[kj lad]

In the USA, Jeep were very worried about the IFS on the KJ. The Cherokee (XJ) was such an important car as it accounted for most of Jeep's sales and so the KJ was a huge risk. They were planning on producing the KJ and the XJ overlapping each other in the North American market just in case the KJ didn't sell and so they couldn't call the KJ a Cherokee. But this allowed Jeep the option of not upsetting the '******** Jeepers'. The XJ was available for about 3 months after the launch of the KJ.

In the rest of world the intention was always to withdraw the XJ immediately and the KJ would replace it with no overlap. This is because away from the American conitent, Jeep doesn't have the same following. As the KJ replaced the XJ in the rest of the world it carried the name Cherokee on.

That's what I read in a UK magazine just prior to the Launch of the KJ in the UK.

Ian

 

[KR]

Liberty (USA) Cherokee(Europe)

Guys can I add an important note in here,
The branding is important , you have two distinct areas of the globe buying virtually the same spec Jeep with the exception of a few minor items to satisfy UK safety legislation.
The main difference is the price, the Jeep brand in the UK is fetching more from the UK punter than the USA and Canadian based fans.
I have just saved a fortune by shipping in a Liberty from Florida to the United Kingdom, OK its a lefthand drive thats no problem you get used to it.
The UK price of an 03 Liberty or should i say Cherokee is 15k sterling, the Florida price was 6k, even allowing for shipping and customs charges the price came in at approx 9k.
So fellows the name difference is purely to stop people questioning the price differential.Daimler Chrysler would argue that they make less righthand drive Jeeps when compared to lefthand. The main point here is you charge what you can get away with, the UK punters walking into the dealers simply don`t do there homework and they pay the higher price.

 

[kj lad]

But when importing a Jeep that is still in warranty, you negate it. I bought my Cherokee new and therefore would rather have the warranty cover even though I paid a higher price for it. You pay higher prices for cars in the UK than in the USA unfortunately that's the way it has always been. Your insurance will be affected by having a LHD import in the UK. If I had've wanted a LHD Jeep I would have got my brother to import a long wheelbase Wrangler through his car imprt business...... but that's not the point!

We are discussing the Liberty/Cherokee name inconsistancy and I fail to see why the difference in price has a bearing on that?

Ian

 

[UKKJ]

ditto KJlad

I paid £13k for mine at a Jeep dealer, 13 months old, warranty (extendable) 8k miles, No insurance issues, part exchange and RHD!!
US translation = cheap!!

I did my homework and don't appreciate sweeping comments #-o

Anyway, The overlap issue in the US sounds the most reasonable explanation, nice one.

 

[eddiev9]

So fellows the name difference is purely to stop people questioning the price differential.Daimler Chrysler would argue that they make less righthand drive Jeeps when compared to lefthand. The main point here is you charge what you can get away with, the UK punters walking into the dealers simply don`t do there homework and they pay the higher price.

I can't seem to figure out how the statement of stopping people from questioning price was determined. (Aeh) Where's the connection?

Over here the Cherokee's cost roughly 55% more than US-made KJ's. If a local were to purchase a US model KJ, ship it and pay all the customs/taxes, etc. through the Gov't laws & regulations, it'd come out to way more than 55%. So in a way, the locals are getting the better deal on the imports. From what kj lad and UKKJ commented, I'd say buying a Euro spec Cherokee is the better deal.

It's common knowledge to all here that importing anything practically doubles prices here. A $1.29 can of SPAM at our Commissary is about $2.80 in the local market (which is why a lot of soldiers get busted for blackmarketing).

I wouldn't say that DaimlerChrysler is trying to get away with anything; local Gov't collects all the money.