Tricky one this. Where does Jeep‘s new Wrangler fit in the world of automotive marketing niches?
While the Wrangler is ‘up-there’ with the best when it comes to off-road capability, it’s also relatively basic. Yet it’s not a direct rival to the obvious contender, the Land Rover Defender, because that is a commercial vehicle and the Wrangler’s not.
However, the Wrangler’s not far off commercial vehicle territory. It is more comfortable than a Defender and is also available with an automatic gearbox making it a lot easier drive. The steering is much lighter, too, but unfortunately is over-light and cuts feedback from the wheels, so it feels vague in terms of road positioning.
The Wrangler is set apart also by the removable hard-top roof – although this is a complicated affair and we failed to remove all the panels in the time we had, giving up after five minutes.
The Wrangler’s biggest annoyance, though, is the lack of any notches to keep any of the doors open, which means they swing back and can hit passengers or make it difficult to load the boot.
Verdict: Great looks, great off-road, easy to drive, but flawed and is not fleet-friendly
