“We are ready to go to any point, to the point where we decide with the appropriate people and without intermediaries,” he said when asked to drop the name. “At this stage I do not know if there is a real problem. But if there is one, we will of course solve it.”
“I think we are in a day and time in this country where it is time for corporations and team sports to abandon the use of Native American names, images and mascots from their products, team jerseys and sports in general,” he said in a statement last month.
The Grand Cherokee is one of the top-selling models of any of Stellantis’ brands in terms of global sales. It is number 2 in US sales, behind only the Ram pickup, and the Cherokee is number 4 in US sales. The name Cherokee was first used on a Jeep SUV in 1974 and has since been used by the Jeep on the Cherokee or Grand Cherokee.
The discussion surrounding the Cherokee name comes as many sports teams and companies reconsider logos that rely on racist or stereotypical representations of minorities.