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Jeep Creates the New Jeep Trail Rated Requirements

Posted by mike on 2003/9/20 23:00:00 (272) reads

Trail Rated Measures Stringent Jeep 4x4 Capability Requirements

The Jeep(R) brand today announced Jeep Trail Rated(TM), a new way to communicate to consumers the extensive level of off-road requirements that all Jeep 4x4 vehicles must meet. The new 2004 Jeep 4x4 vehicles -- Grand Cherokee, Liberty and Wrangler -- with Trail Rated badges start arriving in dealerships next week.

"Jeep Trail Rated is an industry-leading methodology to objectively measure and predict off-road performance for all Jeep vehicles," said Jeff Bell, Vice President Jeep, DaimlerChrysler Corporation. "We created Jeep Trail Rated to communicate the legendary Jeep capability that is designed into every Jeep 4x4."

Jeep Trail Rated is supported by the Nevada Automotive Test Center (NATC), which has 45 years of off-road vehicle testing experience, including the creation of standards for the U.S. military.

The new Jeep "Trail Rated" badge indicates that every Jeep 4x4 has been designed to perform in a variety of challenging off-road conditions identified by five key consumer-oriented performance categories, including Traction, Ground Clearance, Maneuverability, Articulation and Water Fording.

"Through a combination of natural and controlled field tests, as well as computer-simulated environments, Jeep Trail Rated provides a repeatable and consistent measurement of off-road performance for all Jeep vehicles," said Bell. "As the Jeep brand expands, Trail Rated will help us ensure that our legendary 4x4 capability remains a cornerstone of the Jeep brand."

Six new print ads and four new television spots will communicate the stringent requirements that Jeep vehicles must meet in order to earn the Jeep "Trail Rated" badge. The new spots will highlight one of the five consumer- oriented categories that make up Jeep Trail Rated. Both print and broadcast ads break in mid-October. Consumers can also see details of Jeep Trail Rated on Jeep.com . Additionally, the Jeep brand will debut Jeep Trail Rated creative in The New Yorker magazine's charter edition of the Tablet PC.

Describing the overall direction of the ads, Bell added, "Each print ad will consistently show the performance standards with a capability graphic that highlights one of the five off-road conditions being demonstrated, along with the Trail Rated 4x4 badge. The television spots will also feature the performance categories and the Trail Rated 4x4 badge."

"The Jeep brand continues to deliver on the promise to provide rugged, versatile vehicles with authentic 4x4 capability," said Bell.

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Anonymous	Posted: 1969/12/31 18:00 Updated: 1969/12/31 18:00
	Originally posted by: mako Well, I have talked to a few dealerships - seems the badge is just that - it will be located where the old ashtray went (ie the tomb raider badging). You can actually buy one of the badges at the parts dept starting next week for a mere 30.00 bucks plus - and badges wont differenciate between models - they are all the same and have no specific meaning - other than taking up space - I have a 2003 Rubicon - and it would be "trail rated" just as the Grands and KJ's - so go out and waste your dinero on another marketing scheme!

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Anonymous	Posted: 1969/12/31 18:00 Updated: 1969/12/31 18:00
	Originally posted by: chrysdodgejeep here is my comment...It is most impressive that a 2004 Grand Cherokee 4x4 with the 'Quadra-Trac 1 On Demand 4WD System'is still considered "Trail-Rated"..especially in light of the fact that it has NO low range...and Jeep Jamboree will not allow it on its trails.

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Anonymous	Posted: 1969/12/31 18:00 Updated: 1969/12/31 18:00
	Originally posted by: JASON I agree with MalcomXJ. Show me the test results that back up the claims.And as far as the badge they can stick that up some where else ! In some respects Im still old school and I dont want my machine looking like some circus wagon with junk stuck all over it!I may use my Jeeps hard but I still take pride in the way they look! Cant you just see it now a $40,000 Grand Cherokee with a tacky badge hanging on the sides. My advice is to build a vehicle and make sure it does what you say it will do and its reputation will speak for it self .

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Anonymous	Posted: 1969/12/31 18:00 Updated: 1969/12/31 18:00
	Originally posted by: MalcomXJ This is just a marketing scheme and thus is meaningless. If they want it to carry some meaning, give us the results of the testing (I'd love to see the articulation results for a Liberty), and the details about how exactly each attribute was tested. If this is simply a blanket statement applied to all Jeeps, it's a sham. DC did away with the Rubicon requirement because it began making vehicles that couldn't make it without heavy assistance (and plan on more). They publicly stated that they didn't see the value of the Rubicon validation, and now they reverse this and buy a consultancy's results? I'm a bit confused, because this would seem to open them up to a lot of product liability when someone buys a Liberty and immediately breaks a tie-rod when attempting to climb a rock... because it's "Trail Rated."

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Anonymous	Posted: 1969/12/31 18:00 Updated: 1969/12/31 18:00
	Originally posted by: jeepfan Here is what is said in the new sales consultant product guide for new car sales people. Liberty, Wrangler, Grand Cherokee is trail rated. Its off-road capabilities have been validated by the Nevada Automotive Test Center (NATC), an independent third-party testing operation (late availability) The new "Trail Rated " badge is a testament to Liberty's, Wranglers, Grand Cherokee's confiden off-road performance on 4X4 models only. Thought I would throw that in the mix for you all.

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Anonymous	Posted: 1969/12/31 18:00 Updated: 1969/12/31 18:00
	Originally posted by: Wyatt here is my comment A trail rated badge is a good thing. It'll be like the THX Certified badge on a speaker or HDTV badge on a TV. This should signify something special about the Jeep. It'll be interesting to see if other companies follow. Jeep should be able to charge more $$ for a certified vehicle which is a good thing for the Jeep. I believe that even people who don't go off-road will buy them as a status symbol. I had a friend who had a Land Rover Disco who never took it off-road. I agree. The H1 is the only real off-roader that HUMMER makes. The H2 is a status symbol but is probably less capable off-road than an XJ or TJ. Since 99.9% of us cannot drop 100K for an off-roaf vehicle then it makes since to market Jeeps this way. If trail rated Jeeps sell well then it will force Jeep to produce more Wrangler-like vehices and less Icon/Varsity/Jeepster-like ones. What ever happened to Jeep anyway? Their concept vehicles a few years ago were not bad: Dakar, Journey, Tabasco. They must have hired someone from some Liberal Arts college who doesn't know anything about Jeeps to design this latest crop of crappy vehicles.

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Anonymous	Posted: 1969/12/31 18:00 Updated: 1969/12/31 18:00
	Originally posted by: Eddo This could possibly be something good. Maybe Jeep has realized it can't compete with the cute ute and shouldn't. By attracting people that want to be able to say there vehicle is more off-road capable then their friends RAV 4 is a good thing and bad thing. I think the idea of have 4x4 than can actually go off-road is being lost. Of course it would attract alot of people that just want to be able to say they can off road and never do. I believe people will actually be more attracted to jeep if they market them as being the most off-road capable vehicles. Maybe if they actually showed the difference between a TJ and a RAV 4 and what they are capable of. The trail rating could be a PA way of establishing this This however can lead too a couple outcomes. Jeep actually goes back to basics and Trail Rating is realistic measure of its off-road capability. Maybe produce more Rubicon style jeeps. Or it could just all be marketing hype and the Trail Rating could have no real meaning. Either way we will have to wait and see. However, I think DC is worried about the GM line of hummers that are being debuted as off-road machines (which they are not, cept for the H1) Maybe Jeep feels this is real competition and needs to show GM what a real off-road vechile can do. Hence stealing the market from people that want to say they have a go anywhere vechlie.

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Anonymous	Posted: 1969/12/31 18:00 Updated: 1969/12/31 18:00
	Originally posted by: Wyatt here is my comment I wonder of it will be just a badge stating that the Jeep passed the trail and no badge if it did not. This is encouraging. At least someone at DC feels Jeeps should be recognized for their off-road capability.

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Anonymous	Posted: 1969/12/31 18:00 Updated: 1969/12/31 18:00
	Originally posted by: Jethro Well it will be interesting to see how the rating works. Will the wrangler SE be rated lower than the rubicon. I guess the 4x2 will be rated lower than the 4x4. So i wonder if these ratings will mesh with the trail ratings of the jeep jamboree trails which are rated. Its gonna be interesting....

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Anonymous	Posted: 1969/12/31 18:00 Updated: 1969/12/31 18:00
	Originally posted by: Jeep fan Well it is about time that Jeep does some advertising about how and just what a Jeep can actually do.. Maybe it will help make the Jeep brand stand out and bring in more traffic to the showroom floor. Belive me the showroom floors have been very vacant lately. Seems like the Grand has lost it's flavor and the liberty isn't holding out as well either.

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Anonymous	Posted: 1969/12/31 18:00 Updated: 1969/12/31 18:00
	Originally posted by: mako too bad Danny cant spell a simple word like Rubicon - but he sure can bash other Jeep owners. People like you dont need to drive a Jeep. You seem like one of those kids who dont even know where or what origin your Jeep came from, but yet you think that your Jeep is more capable than anyone elses. This is much like the people who think a CJ is better than a YJ - A Jeep is a Jeep - they are all capable of anything. It just depends how much money your daddy lended you to make you think you have something better......wake up Danny and get back to school. Learn to respect other Jeep owners or go get a Yugo!

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Anonymous	Posted: 1969/12/31 18:00 Updated: 1969/12/31 18:00
	Originally posted by: Dillinger All in an effort to bring the capabilities down to a level that will allow the Liberty to "measure up". DCX is getting better and better at disinformation and false hype.

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Anonymous	Posted: 1969/12/31 18:00 Updated: 1969/12/31 18:00
	Originally posted by: Dany matula here is my comment Maybe i should go get afew badges for my xjs. both my bascialy stock one and my red one siting on a custom supention and 35s that made jamborie participants jaws drop when they saw it in actionn making a rubcon on 33 look like a fool for about 25k less.

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Anonymous	Posted: 1969/12/31 18:00 Updated: 1969/12/31 18:00
	Originally posted by: maddog They will have to come up with a "Mall Rated" badge for the Liberty.....

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Anonymous	Posted: 1969/12/31 18:00 Updated: 1969/12/31 18:00
	Originally posted by: Jeepmed I agree its about time Jeep tried to advertise there strength. Not how many Girls you can pick up.

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Anonymous	Posted: 1969/12/31 18:00 Updated: 1969/12/31 18:00
	Originally posted by: AndyVP This will lead to non rated Jeeps. That way, Jeep thinks it can have it both ways.