{"podcast":{"title":"The Drivecast","slug":"the-drivecast-7679263","podcast_index_feed_id":7679263,"rss_url":"https://feeds.megaphone.fm/thedrivecast","website_url":"https://thedrive.com","image_url":"https://megaphone.imgix.net/podcasts/d7009d68-c3da-11f0-ab0b-27730799ec2e/image/5e5027867576f73364084f450272a356.jpg?ixlib=rails-4.3.1&max-w=3000&max-h=3000&fit=crop&auto=format,compress","author":"The Drive","episode_count":22,"summary":"The Drivecast gives you an inside, behind-the-scenes look at the biggest stories, controversies, and people shaping the car industry from one of the top automotive news sites in the country. Each week, The Drive's editor-in-chief Kyle Cheromcha, director of content Joel Feder, and a rotating cast of expert staffers will break down how automakers are navigating a transformative time. Massive shifts in technology, manufacturing, and consumer demands are changing the ways cars are built and sold quicker than ever, and the way car companies are navigating this moment will shape the way our roads look for the next century. It doesn’t matter if you’re an enthusiast since birth or just curious about why cars are the way they are today—we’ll give you the inside line with our exclusive reporting and break it all down for you. If you like what we're doing, check out The Drive for the latest news, analysis, and in-depth car reviews, sign up for one of our newsletters, and subscribe to us on YouTube. We're also posting all the time on Instagram and Facebook.","last_synced_at":"2026-07-02T06:19:23.382800+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-drivecast-7679263"},"episode":{"title":"How Jeep got lost in the wilderness","slug":"how-jeep-got-lost-in-the-wilderness","published_at":"2026-02-25T18:48:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-drivecast-7679263/how-jeep-got-lost-in-the-wilderness","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-drivecast-7679263","url":"https://www.thedrive.com/category/podcast","audio_url":"https://pdst.fm/e/traffic.megaphone.fm/RECU4344501714.mp3","summary":"Jeep is in trouble. The rugged American icon finds itself struggling to dig out from mountain of problems: plummeting quality, skyrocketing prices, and confusing strategic shifts that alienated its most loyal fans. Now, with a new CEO in town, Jeep is trying to smash the reset button. This week, Kyle and Joel are joined by The Drive’s senior editor and resident truck expert Caleb Jacobs to explain how a company known for trail-rated trucks got lost in the wilderness, whether it can recapture its old-school magic in today’s challenging environment, and if its move to bring back the Jeep Cherokee SUV as Toyota-fighting hybrid crossover is a step in the right direction, or too little too late. Building and selling new cars at a price that makes sense for consumers is hard enough right now, but Jeep faces an even bigger obstacle: its parent company Stellantis, the multinational conglomerate with 14 brands across multiple continents under its umbrella. Many of Jeep’s biggest stumbles—spending billions to launch a half-finished electric SUV, an ambitious plug-in hybrid push that ended in a rash of battery fires and recalls, raising MSRPs to reposition itself as a luxury brand, and relentless cost cutting to pay for all of that—came from Stellantis’ European focus and top-down decision-making structure. To get back on track, Jeep needs to get back to basics, and new CEO Bob Broderdorf is promising a new golden era for the brand that starts with listening to what American buyers actually want from it. Jeep knows mistakes were made. The big question is whether it’s actually capable of doing what’s necessary to correct them. Stories mentioned in today's episode: 2026 Jeep Cherokee First Drive Review: Is This the Anti-XJ? 2026 Jeep Grand Cherokee First Drive Review: The Four-Cyli…","meta_description":"Jeep is in trouble. The rugged American icon finds itself struggling to dig out from mountain of problems: plummeting quality, skyrocketing prices, and co…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":3597,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-drivecast-7679263/episodes/how-jeep-got-lost-in-the-wilderness/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-drivecast-7679263/how-jeep-got-lost-in-the-wilderness.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}