sentences:  The niche the trend created resulted in the development of new vehicles intended to bridge gaps between tanks or tracked armored personnel carriers above the 7 tonne class and jeep type vehicles under 4 tonnes.During the late 1970s, the Brazilian Army was still using a variety of unarmored jeep class vehicles for auxiliary tasks in its mechanized formations.In 1977, Engesa began development work on an armored scout car which it intended to market to the army as a potential replacement for the jeep class.