“We are ready to go at any point, up to the point where we decide with the right people and without intermediaries,” he said when asked about the name’s withdrawal. “At this stage, I don’t know if there is a real problem. But if there is one, well, of course we will solve it.”
“I think we are in a time in this country when it is time for corporations and team sports to withdraw the use of Native American names, images and mascots from their products, team jerseys and sports in general,” he said in a statement on last month.
The Grand Cherokee is one of the best-selling models of any Stellantis brand in terms of global sales. It is second in sales for the company in the United States, behind only the Ram pickup truck, and Cherokee is fourth in sales in the United States. The name Cherokee was first used in a Jeep SUV in 1974, and has been used by Jeep in the Cherokee or Grand Cherokee ever since.
The discussion around the name Cherokee occurs when many sports teams and companies are rethinking logos that are based on racist or stereotyped representations of minorities.