In Mongolia, what kind of vehicle is a jeep?

In Mongolia, what is meant by a jeep?

I assume it is referring to a general type of vehicle, not the US car brand, as Lonely Planet refers to Russian made jeeps at one point. Is it merely a four wheel drive or sports utility vehicle, or something different?

What native English speakers think of when they use the generic word "jeep" with a lowercase "j":

An example of the American brand "Jeep" with an uppercase "J":

Russian-made Lada and UAZ, both probably common in Mongolia and could be referred to as jeeps by some people:

Typical Land Rover, Toyota Land Cruiser, and Mercedes 4X4's / 4WD's that some people might call "jeeps":

(All photos thanks to Wikimedia Commons)

Best Answer

"Jeep" originally referred to a small US Army scout vehicle built by Willys-Overland during WWII. More then 640,000 were produced and they were immensely popular with all Allied armies for their sturdiness, simplicity, and reliability.

Since then, "Jeep" has been simultaneously a brand name (of both military and commercial vehicles) that changed hands from Willys-Overland to Kaiser to American Motors to Chrysler and now Fiat, and a generic name for any small or medium-sized 4-wheel-drive on-/off-road vehicle, especially one with a soft top or a removable hard-top, regardless of make or country of origin.

This is more of english.SE question than a travel.SE one, but there you go. You can read the Wikipedia article here, but really nothing captures the spirit of the Jeep better than the famous Bill Mauldin cartoon.