Jeep has confirmed that its new Grand Wagoneer SUV, on sale by 2018, will be a flagship model to rival Range Rovers and other high-end 4x4s.
Speaking to Autocar, Jeep global brand director Michael Manley said: “Part of my plan says there is space for us above the Grand Cherokee. I’ve always talked about Grand Wagoneer and that for me is a big focus and will fill out the brand at the top.”
Jeep first announced the return of the Grand Wagoneer nameplate in 2012 at the Geneva motor show, but its relationship to the Grand Cherokee, currently Jeep’s flagship, has not always been made clear.
“I think that vehicle [Grand Wagoneer] will very, very effectively compete with premium SUVs,” Manley said at the recent Paris motor show.
The new Grand Wagoneer has three rows of seating, which would pitch it in the territory of the new Land Rover Discovery as well as the Range Rover and the Range Rover Sport.
However, Manley said that the new Grand Wagoneer will not occupy a market slot that overlaps with the forthcoming Maserati Levante, another SUV within the Fiat Chrysler Automobiles group.
The Levante shares some componentry with the Grand Cherokee platform but it will take a notably different market position from the Grand Wagoneer’s.
“Maserati and Jeep are two very different brands,” said Manley. “I have zero sleepless nights about the launch of their vehicle. The Levante will play in a part of the market that Jeep is not playing in.”
To reinforce his point about Jeep’s future positioning, Manley identified Land Rover as Jeep’s main competition.
“Range Rover is a different story [to Maserati],” he said. “Jeep and Range Rover have historically competed. Range Rover is the other pure SUV brand in the world. So they will always be our competitors.”
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Jeep/Landrover dependability
landrover: 179
Lest you forget
as a jeep owner
But having owned a rock solid Cherokee for 12 years I think they are reliable (not to say others may have had horror stories)
I also have a 5 series and now a new Grand Cherokee on the drive and the GC is a nice place to be, in fact for the money I would say very nice, its quiet, fast when I want it to be and very comfy.
compare a GC spec for spec with a Merc ML and see how the two differ in price (best comparison as both developed from same DNA.
The BM seems to be the least reliable of the three, especially judging by the error lights that came on this morning on the M25.
I personally dont think they will compete directly with RR in uk, but in US and other parts of the world they are not so anal about soft touch this and soft touch that.
If you have seen the Durango it would be a quick slot in above the GC, but they are discontinuing that in US in prep for the GW.
I look at it this way, pay for a new GC at 47K list (silly if you do as deals are easy to come by) or go get an ML for 75K (I think this is what it came to last time I did the comparison) and then think - is the difference in "quality" really worth an average UK wage?
I looked at the RR sport when I thought about my last change and its a very nice car in and out, but I just could not justify to myself the extra cost it would incur.
Even if my GC turns out to be a bit unreliable I can afford a hire car for a couple of years with the price difference.
Why dont we wait to see what actually hits the street rather than bitch now, afterall Fiat dont have a big platform that they can make Jeep use so it may not be as compromised as the car based smaller units its released recently.