2027 Jeep Cherokee Finally Gets Serious Off-Road Gear

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I’m what you might call an “elder” millennial. I was born in the first half of the 1980s, so I remember a lot that younger members of my nominal generation might not, like Betamax, rotary phones, and the heyday of the four-door sedan. The 2026 Toyota Camry I just drove had me thinking about how we got here—and how much I sometimes miss the “good” old days. The demise of the sedan seems strange to me, at least on the surface. Sure, automotive trends come and go, especially among family trucksters. My parents came up in the age of the station wagon, which the one-two punch of malaise-era fuel prices and the minivan’s arrival booted out of the zeitgeist. Through it all, the old-fashioned family sedan held its anchorage in our collective psyche.

I remember when Dixie Chopper lawn mowers were the best around—or, at the very least, they were believably marketed as such. The sign at my local tire shop, which doubled as a Dixie Chopper dealer, touted them as the “World’s Fastest Lawn Mower.” Between that and the old men around me backing up the claim, I reckoned that it must be true. And now, Dixie Chopper is winding down. Alamo Group Incorporated owns Dixie Chopper, and it broke the news to the brand’s dealer network in a letter recently. The plan, as Powersports Business and other outlets report, is to cease operations by April 1, 2027. That means the brand’s story will conclude some 47 years after it started in Fillmore, Indiana.

I think it’s been forgotten with time that American automakers in the ’50s and ’60s were impressively quick to develop cars that followed trends, with many brands revising their vehicles every single model year. This was easier in an era of body-on-frame cars and lower safety standards, but it still demonstrated how dominant the styling-focused US car industry was at that moment. The speed of Chinese automakers in developing new vehicles is equally as impressive, and right now it seems as though many of them have discovered that what people want is an SUV or crossover that looks like some variant of a Land Rover. In fact, the best-selling vehicle in Britain is a quasi-Range Rover knockoff. It’s not just the UK and Europe, as Japan is about to see an influx of cars from across the East China Sea.

The last Nissan GT-R spent nearly 20 years giving Nissan something most mainstream brands didn't have. Specifically, it had supercar-like speed, killer looks, and it cost less than cars it outperformed. Then, in August of last year, it ended production without a direct successor, leaving a high-horsepower gap in the market. Based on new comments from Kia's R&D boss, it would love to be the brand that fills the gap. Speaking to Autocar, Hyundai Motor Group R&D chief Manfred Harrer talked about the GT line and the potential for something above it. "I like the idea," says Harrer. "You see a lot of car makers going that way, so why not?," he said. Keep in mind, this is a guy who previously worked at BMW and Porsche. Performance machines at the top end of the segment are familiar to him. That said, his focus right now appears to be something between what Kia offers now and a GT-R-esque model.

Charlen holds a BA Languages & Culture degree and has over a decade of experience in automotive journalism. His work experience includes stints at CAR Mag and News24 Motoring. Charlen didn't grow up in a 'car family' like other journalists, but the vehicles that treaded his family home's driveway ignited a deep appreciation for it. The spark that ignited a thousand flames began when he started his grandfather's 1970s Chevrolet El Camino - revving the straight-six 4.1-litre engine and feeling things a 9-year-old probably should not feel (just yet). Years later, while studying BA Languages & Culture at the University of Stellenbosch, he interned at CAR Magazine - South Africa's oldest motor publication - during the holidays, followed by a year-long internship at Wheels24 in 2016. He joined News24 Motoring permanently in 2020, followed by a move to News24 Sport where he was the motorsport editor. In 2024, he rejoined CAR as its Used-Car Editor. However, a restructuring at CAR left him in a freelance position - one he still holds - contributing content to the title's print and digital platforms. These days, the midsize pickup segment has become an arms race of turbocharged