The automaker had hoped to keep the mid-sized SUV -- and its name -- secret until a planned reveal at the New York auto show next month. However, photos of several 2014 Cherokees taken during pre-production at Chrysler's Toledo North Assembly plant were unveiled Friday morning on the site Jalopnik.com.
The automaker released few details today in revealing the name, but included four official photos of the new vehicle and said it will begin arriving in dealerships in the third quarter.
Automotive News has previously reported that the Cherokee would be powered by a 3.2-liter V-6 engine based on Chrysler's 3.6-liter Pentastar engine, as well as an all-new 9-speed front-wheel-drive automatic transmission designed by ZF Friedrichshafen.
The Cherokee is scheduled to go into production in May.
Online reaction to the leaked photographs was less than stellar. Late this afternoon, Ralph Gilles, Chrysler's head of design, tweeted "have faith" to a Jeep enthusiast who had expressed disappointment with the design.
"We are shifting some paradigms around... it is time," Gilles tweeted.
The Cherokee will be powered by a 3.2-liter V-6 engine based on Chrysler's 3.6-liter Pentastar engine.
Automotive News and other publications were shown pre-production versions of the Cherokee in mid-December under an embargo that was to hold until the vehicle was revealed at the New York auto show.
Automotive News will continue to honor the remaining embargoed material.
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