Fiat Chrysler’s been rolling out a slew of newly updated vehicles in recent months, like the Challenger Super Stock, the Jeep Gladiator Far Out and more. However, the game changer we’ve all been waiting for – the Jeep Grand Wagoneer – is only getting a bit of a tease.
The company’s been dropping little hints on social media that the time for the new high-end SUV is nigh. Jeep tweeted a picture of the Grand Canyon with the definition of Grand (magnificent and striking in appearance, size or style, if you’re curious) with tag “Coming Soon.”
It followed that up with a partial picture of the car’s badge and another of the push button starter that will bring the not-yet-revealed behemoth.
(What does new China-only Jeep Grand Commander reveal about upcoming Grand Wagoneer?)
The new model, which was originally scheduled to return last year, gives FCA a competitor in the large SUV market currently occupied at the luxury level by the Cadillac Escalade and Lincoln Navigator, in terms of domestic automakers.
Details are still sparse, but it’s expected to be offered in two versions, the Wagoneer, which will be standard model, and the Grand Wagoneer, the upscale model with an extended wheelbase. The new Grand Wagoneer will be built on the Ram 1500 body-on-frame platform and is being produced at the Warren (MI) Truck Plant where the Ram was manufactured until recently. The smaller Wagoneer is expected to share the same platform as the Jeep Grand Cherokee.
When it comes to power, the Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer are likely to offer V-6 and V-8 engine options along with hybrid and plug-in-hybrid variants, although none of those have been confirmed by FCA officials.
(FCA going Grand with new Wagoneer.)
FCA CEO Mike Manley, who headed up Jeep when it was revealed it was bringing the Wagoneer
and Grand Wagoneer back, elaborated a bit on what to expect at the time.
“The Wagoneer name represents, historically, the pinnacle of premium for the Jeep world,” Manley said in 2016. “But in the same way as you may have an Overland and a Summit, you have different trim levels.
“So you could imagine the use of Wagoneer to denote a really premium vehicle, and Grand Wagoneer takes it to the very next level. If you were to use that as your naming strategy, that’s exactly how I would use the trims.”
(FCA expects Wagoneer to stand apart … literally.)
Nothing in the recently dropped social media breadcrumbs leads us to think anything has changed. In fact, with a slew of new high-end offerings coming in the next six to 12 months, like the new all-electric GMC Hummer, the Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer need to be pretty impressive.
