Jeep is promoting its new line of hybrid vehicles and joined forces with Ann Druyan, the widow and collaborator of Carl Sagan. They created the 90-second video “Pale Blue Dot,” which launches the new Jeep Wrangler 4xe and puts attention on efforts to combat climate change. With every completed view of “Pale Blue Dot” on Jeep brand’s YouTube page, the brand will make a contribution to Coalition for Rainforest Nations and the Carl Sagan Institute of Cornell University to combat climate change.
On Feb. 14, 1990, famed scientist Carl Sagan gave the world an astonishing vantage point of the planet we call home. In 1981, Sagan, a member of the mission’s imaging team, began lobbying NASA to turn Voyager 1’s camera for one last look homeward, once it had completed the first reconnaissance of the outer planets. The resulting image with the Earth appearing as a tiny speck, miniscule in size from out beyond Neptune, almost 4 billion miles away, became known as “the pale blue dot.”
The brand worked together with Emmy and Peabody Award-winning American writer, producer, director Ann Druyan on creative elements of the piece, hinging on Carl Sagan’s narration. The Jeep brand’s “Pale Blue Dot” video includes passages from Sagan’s 1994 book “Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space” in which he spoke in-depth about the photograph.
Next year is very important for Jeep, who will celebrate 80 years since it was born. Its legend started with the Willys MB – the first ever mass-produced 4×4 vehicle – and continued in 1949 with the launch of the four-wheel-drive Willys Wagon, the first Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV).
The celebration of the 80th anniversary will play out across through the whole of 2021 with dedicated events starting in early January, and specifically created to bring customers and fans closer to the heritage of the brand. An, as with every brand, the milestone will also be marked with the launch of distinctive 80th anniversary special-edition models.
These vehicles will feature distinct design and features inside and out, including distinctive seats, unique wheels, and dedicated commemorative badging. Powered by internal combustion engines and Jeep plug-in hybrid system, they will also be packed full of advanced technology and safety features and will showcase Jeep’s unparalleled 4×4 capability. Jeep 80th anniversary special edition models available in EMEA will arrive in Jeep showrooms across the region from late 2020 and early 2021.
As Jeep celebrates its eighth decade, the brand is entering the next exciting phase in its legendary history. The introduction this summer of the Jeep Renegade 4xe and Compass 4xe – the first Jeep vehicles with plug-in hybrid technology in the EMEA region – and the debut in Detroit in the first week of September of the Jeep Wrangler 4xe plug-in hybrid model, further underline the brand’s commitment to electrification. Over the next few years an electrified option will be available on each nameplate in the award-winning Jeep SUV range. This is in line with the brand’s ambition to become a leader in technologies for a more eco-friendly mobility.
All electrified Jeep vehicles will carry the 4xe badge, centred around the pillars of efficiency, performance, responsibility, 4×4 capability and driver confidence. Jeep 4xe models will embody a modern vision of capability, providing the best ever balance between efficiency, driving fun and respect of the environment.
