Chrysler now shipping new Jeep Cherokees
DETROIT — Chrysler began shipping the new Jeep Cherokee on Tuesday, giving dealers a long-awaited entry in the fast-growing compact crossover SUV market.
Distribution of the Cherokees had been delayed while Chrysler engineers tinkered with the new nine-speed automatic transmissions to make them shift more smoothly.
Company spokesmen confirmed that trucks hauling Cherokees began leaving a Toledo, Ohio, factory on Tuesday morning, heading for Jeep dealers across the nation.
At Golling Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge-Ram in Bloomfield Township, Mich., north of Detroit, employees waited eagerly for the first truckload of Cherokees to arrive Tuesday afternoon.
Owner Bill Golling said the delay in shipping probably cost Chrysler hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue because the company books the sale when it ships cars to dealers.
