Stellantis Murka After Influencer Unloads Interior Jeep Recon That Hasn't Been Ready To Be Sold At The Exhibition

Jeep Recon on display at the LA Auto Show. (Photo: Autopost)

JAKARTA A viral video showing two influencers dismantling the interior of the Jeep Recon EV at the Los Angeles Auto Show 2025 sparked a firm response from parent company Stellantis. This action is considered detrimental to the image of the new electric model, especially because it was carried out when the units on display were still in the form of prototype vehicles.

The incident began when The Middle Lane channel uploaded a video of two creators removing a central console plastic panel, the top of the digital instrument cluster, checking the gap in the door panel, shaking the infotainment screen.

They claim to want to know the consistency of building quality, including how solid the interior is when used to drive off the road. The video quickly caught the public's attention, breaking through more than a million views.

The creators also said that they hoped that the quality of assembly would be better for an electric car which is estimated to be sold for around US$65 thousand (around Rp1 billion). Stellantis immediately gave a response regarding the video.

North America Senior Vice President Communications at Stellantis Kaileen Connelly, provided clarification that the units dismantled were pre-production show cars specially assembled for exhibition purposes.

"The vehicle in question is a pre-production show car, built for events and exhibitions, not to show final quality, durability, or material integrity," he said as quoted by Carscoops, Wednesday, December 3.

"The actions taken to dismantle the new Jeep Recon on display at the LA Auto Show are destructive and unprofessional," he added.

The founder of The Middle Lane, Luke Miani, then rejected allegations that their actions were destructive. According to him, the interior panel was loosely installed.

"I want to refute claims that this is destructive, because certain clips in the interior are loose and those parts are easily released by hand only," he said.

He added that his party hopes that the production version of Jeep Recon will have better building quality. According to Miani, their only goal is to share thoughts about various cars.

Virally, the video also brings up a lot of reactions in cyberspace. Some commentators expressed disappointment over what they thought was a bad work, and blamed Stellantis. Others defended the car manufacturer, stating that the vehicle was a pre-production demonstration unit brought to LA for exhibitions.