One of his focuses – and a key reason for the green-lane test drive initiative – is for Jeep to “play to our strengths”. He adds: “There are too many brands that are too similar. I’m always saying ‘be less beige, be more Jeep’.”
Cholmondeley has commissioned a series of ‘campfire tales’ booklets for dealerships highlighting the brand, and with more composure than you would expect from someone watching a journalist drive his car perilously close to the edge of a trail, he rattles off tales about the origins of the seven-slot grille, Jeep’s Purple Heart medal and a string of Wrangler-owning celebrities.
He notes that Jeep is the only car brand in the dictionary and adds: “We’ve got a brilliant brand that people are aware of, but you have to remind people about Jeep’s history.”
“That’s where his marketing experience comes in. “It’s the importance of clarity and narrative,” he says. “You can have a great PowerPoint, but you need to be able to shape a clear vision and strategy.”
Clear vision and strategy are also useful when navigating green lanes, especially when another short road section brings us to Hodge Close. The byway here passes some old farm buildings before working its way past an old slate quarry.
It’s another stone track and illustrates, Dykes is quick to point out, that perceptions of motor vehicles tearing up and damaging byways are misplaced: there’s no mud or dirt to tear up.
The track is nothing the Wrangler can’t handle, but we have to brush past some scenery – I wince more than Cholmondeley whenever I hear some branches thwacking the side of his Wrangler – and there are plenty of sharp-edged stones that could easily take out a tyre’s sidewall. Following Dykes’ advice, I aim straight for them.
One particularly challenging section involves a tight double hairpin while running over some especially big boulders. It looks dramatic but again, from inside the Wrangler, it’s remarkably smooth.