Jeep is planning a significant range expansion at either end of its product range, with both a compact crossover to sit below the Renegade and a three-row SUV called the Grand Wagoneer in the pipeline.
At the entry level, encouraging sales of the Jeep Renegade and the recent launch of the Nissan Qashqai-rivaling Compass have encouraged Jeep to consider an crossover less than four metres long that will belie its compact dimensions by retaining the rugged traits for which Jeeps are best known.
At the top end of the range, meanwhile, Jeep’s plan to bring back its storied Grand Wagoneer nameplate on a three-row SUV is gathering pace.
A business plan for the Grand Wagoneer, which will sit above the Grand Cherokee in the range, has been on the table for more than five years, but Jeep has apparently now started hinting at the car’s appearance by including a front grille design in a dealer presentation.
At last month’s Paris motor show, company chief Mike Manley said progress is being made: “It is still moving forward [but] it’s a longer-term programme due to the technology that’s going to deployed in that vehicle. I’m pleased with where we are at the moment. It will be an exciting nameplate to bring back.”
Jeep is considering taking on top-of-the-range premium SUVs such as the Range Rover Autobiography, with Manley seeing “no maximum price ceiling” for his brand’s products.
With Jeep customers tending to gravitate towards the higher trim levels and ‘speciality’ models in the ranges, Manley is confident there is scope for stretching the brand further upmarket, particularly in its home US market.
“I don’t think that there is a maximum price ceiling for Jeep,” he said. “If you look at the players that segment in the US, you have Range Rover, Mercedes and Porsche but you also have the American players with vehicles like the Chevrolet Suburban.
“Those cars typically start at around $63,000 and finish at about $99,000, but beyond that you have ‘speciality’ vehicles such as Range Rover Autobiography or the Porsche Cayenne Turbo, which go well above $100,000.
“For me Grand Wagoneer, if done well, will be able to play all the way through the bulk of that segment. Pushing the car up to $130-140,000 may be possible, but first we need to establish Grand Wagoneer.”
Jeep’s next compact crossover
The success of the Renegade has encouraged the company to weigh up a B-segment rival to cars such as the Ford Ecosport.
Manley said: “I’m pretty confident that it is going to be a viable segment for us in the future.”
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Jeep
Mud-plugger.
"We could sell this car for a hundred grand, a hundred and fifty grand, two hundred grand!" Yes, but that doesn't mean it'll be any good.
Whatever you think of SUVs, Land Rover and Porsche charge top money for what are, objectively speaking, thoroughly engineered and well thought through products.
They don't just fish the prices out of the toilet bowl.
Not that Jeeps aren't any good but the range doesn't feel as coherent. The new Compass looks OK, the Renegade is rather good but the still-sold-in-America Patriot is horrible. The Grand Cherokee is best described as 'go on then'. And the Cherokee already looks anachronistic, a car from another manufacturer that's been bussed in under a pseudonym.
There's another issue to address. Fundamentally, we all know that Jeeps are Fiats in wellies these days. Which is why honking that you can charge over a hundred grand for one comes across as a bit jejune.
Reskin the panda