Jeep

Jeep is an American vehicle manufacturer specializing in rugged SUVs known for their off-road capabilities.

1940: John North Willys, owner of the Willys-Overland Motor Company, accepted a contract to build military Jeeps for World War II.
WWII: Willys-Overland and Ford produced the Jeep, a four-wheel-drive military vehicle for the U.S. Army. Approximately 360,000 vehicles were made by 1945.
1945: The CJ-2A, the first civilian Jeep, was manufactured.
1950s: CJ-3B and CJ-5 models went into production.
1953: Willys-Overland was sold to Kaiser and the company became known as the Willys Motor Company.
1960s: The Wagoneer debuted.
1963: The company name was changed to the Kaiser-Jeep Corporation.
1965: An optional V6 engine became available in the CJ-5 and CJ-6 models, the first time that any Jeep was equipped with a V6.
1970: Kaiser-Jeep was purchased by the American Motors Corporation.
1973: The Quadra-Trac, the world's first automatic full-time four-wheel-drive system, was introduced in full-size Jeep trucks and wagons, and in the CJ-7 model.
1975: Willys-Overland was revived as a wholesale/retail parts business.
1980s: Production began on the Cherokee and Wrangler.
1987: American Motors was purchased by Chrysler and the Jeep brand became part of Chrysler's Jeep/Eagle division.
1998: Daimler-Benz merged with the Chrysler Corporation to form DaimlerChrysler, the fifth largest auto maker in the world at the time.
2001: DaimlerChrysler built a new assembly facility, two miles north of the old factory.
2007: Chrysler LLC was formed after DaimlerChrysler sold an 80 percent stake in the Chrysler division to Cerberus Capital for $7.4 billion.c