On Wednesday, Jeep came to New York, of all places, to take the wraps off a new S.U.V. with an old name: the Cherokee.

The previous Cherokee, a rugged box for wilderness adventures, turned out to be a perennial top seller in the city, perhaps because it promised an escape from the urban pavement. The Cherokee benefited from a perception that it was tougher than most S.U.V.’s, capable of leaving the Upper West Side in the morning and fording rocky Vermont streams by evening.

But the 2014 model is a Cherokee for a different time and place. Boxy, rough-riding S.U.V.’s have faded in favor of car-based crossovers aimed at younger, more suburban customers. Also, Jeep plans to sell the new model in more markets around the world, requiring a design with broad appeal. The next Cherokee presents a whole new image, a softer look in keeping with its less strenuous marching orders. The company calls it “a fresh form language for the Jeep brand.”

But Jeep buffs are wary of change. When the Wrangler replaced the CJ-7 for the 1986 model year, round headlamps gave way to rectangles, and a rebellion ensued. “Real Jeeps have round headlights,” loyalists proclaimed, demanding the return of a signature styling cue dating to the military jeeps of World War II. Round lights returned on the next-generation Wrangler of 1997.