Jeep

Manufacturer Overview

Jeep is an automobile marque (and registered trademark) of Daimler Chrysler. The marque, like all other Chrysler subsidaries, became part of DaimlerChrysler when Daimler-Benz merged with the Chrysler Corporation in 1998. Jeep, like Band-Aid and Xerox, is a genericized trademark. Unlike Band-Aid and Xerox, however, the name jeep did not start out as a trademark. The term was first applied to a military vehicle, the Bantam BRC, versions of which were produced by Willys-Overland and Ford Motor Company for the Allies during World War II. The term is also used to refer generically to what are now known as SUVs, whether the vehicle in question bears the Jeep nameplate or not.

Roads that are only suitable for off-road vehicles are often called jeep trails. The most famous is the Rubicon Trail located near Lake Tahoe in central California.