New Three-row Jeep Probably Won't Carry the Grand Cherokee Name
In its big February plant and product announcement, Fiat Chrysler said its Mack Avenue engine facility will give way to SUV production, describing the first vehicle to emerge from the repurposed plant as a “three-row, full-size Jeep SUV.” Given that the next-generation Grand Cherokee will also call the plant home, and that the two models will almost certainly share underpinnings, one would assume the three-row Jeep would carry a modified GC nameplate. Think Hyundai Santa Fe XL.
That’s been the assumption, anyway. However, the automaker’s CEO suggests a wholly new nameplate is in the works.
Speaking to Britain’s Auto Express, Mike Manley said the upcoming three-row Jeep is referred to in vague terms for a reason. He also admits the Grand Cherokee, in its current form, has limitations.
The new model “will technically play in the same segment as Grand Cherokee,” Manley said, adding that, “Roughly 60% of that segment is three row, so Grand Cherokee has really only played in 40%. That will open up that part of the segment for us.”
Why not just add a size-related suffix to the Grand Cherokee name? It could still happen, Manley suggests, though he’ll be pushing for an alternative.
“We’ll have the choice of Grand Cherokee or a different model,” he said. “For me, the Grand Cherokee is such an icon, so that’s why I talk about [the new model] as a three row Jeep. It’s like if I dramatically changed what Wrangler looked like – I’d be crucified! Grand Cherokee, interestingly, has a customer base that loves it because it’s got rear-wheel drive, well-positioned stance, and dimensionally it’s perfect.”
It remains to be seen just how much the new model differs, style-wise, from the Grand Cherokee. By the sounds of it, the new model will not simply be a carbon copy of the Grand Cherokee from the C-pillar forward, though the two models are expected to share the same architecture. It’s believed that an updated and beefed-up version of the Giorgio platform, found beneath the Alfa Romeo Giulia and Stelvio, will serve as the models’ starting point.
Whatever name FCA decides to bestow on the new model, customers will see the first units roll out of Mack Avenue in late 2020, with the next-gen Grand Cherokee coming along in the first half of 2021. (FCA’s Jefferson North facility will also build the GC.) In creating the new model, FCA will fill a lucrative white space between the two-row GC and the upcoming, big-bucks Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer. Those brutes go into production at Warren Truck in early 2021.
[Image: Fiat Chrysler Automobiles]
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I thought it was confirmed that it will be the Grand Commander. Same thing they sell in China https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeep_Grand_Commander
I pondered their dilemma a while back. The Chrysler nomenclature for minivans was the short wheelbase version was the Caravan/Voyager while the long wheelbase version was the "Grand" Caravan/Voyager. They messed that up with the non-grand Cherokee an entirely different vehicle than the Grand Cherokee. So what to call a grander Grand Cherokee? It occurred to me to have a different family name for 3 row SUVs, so a 3 row non-grand Cherokee could be the Commander, without the Chinese market "grand", so then the 3 row Grand Cherokee could be the Grand Commander. But that starts to fall apart when a 2 row Wagoneer is a non-grand Wagoneer while the 3 row is the Grand Wagoneer. I considered making the 3 row Grand Cherokee the Wagoneer, and the BoF 3 row monster the Grand Wagoneer, but the sales volume of a car that pushes $100K is going to be so small they would struggle to amortize the investment in it. So, the Waggy and Grand Waggy sort of need to be variations on the same platform. There are plenty of other names in the Jeep archives: Patriot, Liberty, Chief, Comanche, Laredo. Make the 3 row Compass the Patriot, the 3 row non-grand Cherokee the Liberty, make the 3 row Grand Cherokee the Cherokee Chief?