Mark AllenEJS.Still002 

Design,Jeep | April 04 2017

Concepts, consumers drive Jeep® passion in Moab

The 51st Moab Easter Jeep® Safari starts in just a few days. It’s all I can think about. We’ve been actively and passionately supporting the Easter Jeep Safari (EJS) with concept vehicles going on 15 years now.

I like to think of these concepts as sort of a gift for attendees – a chance to get our ideas out there and pick up tips on what people really want from their vehicles.

Moab offers incredibly beautiful and challenging scenery and trails, but, more importantly, that’s where our customers are. It’s important to us to be alongside our Jeep customers, hitting the trails with them, listening to what they’re really thinking – various powertrains, color and trims, or just how the top works. We’re always listening and learning.

On the trail at the 2016 Moab Easter Jeep® Safari

On the trail at the 2016 Moab Easter Jeep® Safari

Whenever I’m asked how we get ideas for the concepts we want to build – we actually start thinking and sketching about the next year’s vehicles when we’re out in Moab. We look for trends, ideas, colors, and the way people are setting up their vehicles, especially suspensions and tires.

Our designers working on these Jeep concept vehicles are true enthusiasts, driven by a passion and desire to build something that nobody’s ever seen before. Once we’ve decided what we’re going to build, it gets really ‘rogue’ after that.

Jeep Safari

2017 Moab EJS Jeep Safari concept design sketch and vehicle

Every single detail on the vehicle is something we pick out and piece together. If it doesn’t fit, we come back and start over again. It’s actually the fun part because something that goes wrong often takes us in a different direction that winds up being absolutely, wildly right.

When we have five to 10 concept vehicle ideas, we work with the Jeep brand on choosing the ones to take to Moab.

Jeep Quicksand

2017 Moab EJS Jeep Quicksand concept design sketch and vehicle

What happens in Moab very often shows up on the showroom floor, in some way. When we did the Rubicon 10th Anniversary, the metal bumpers, color and trim grew out of listening and learning from EJS enthusiasts.

You can only pick up on that if you’re tuned in to your customers and working with them, and it’s turned out to be hugely successful for us.

ZJ-44-test

2017 Moab EJS Jeep Grand One concept design sketch and vehicle