Fans of the Jeep Grand Wagoneer have been dancing around as if Christmas came in July since the announcement the Fiat Chrysler planned to bring the nameplate back; however, details have been sparse until now.
When the beast returns in 2019, the new model will come in two trim lines: Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer. To ensure that everyone understands it will be a cut above – and a separate vehicle – the Grand Cherokee, Jeep boss Mike Manley elaborated a bit on what to expect in the future.
“The Wagoneer name represents, historically, the pinnacle of premium for the Jeep world,” Manley said to the Automotive News. “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.”
The new model will be built on the same platform as the Grand Cherokee, but expect a larger and more luxurious vehicle, especially the Grand Wagoneer. Discontinued after a decades-long run in 1991, FCA CEO Sergio Marchionne green-lighted its return after seeing competitor after competitor roll out high-end luxury sport utilities … and the huge profits they bring with them.
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“When I see a Range Rover on the street, my blood boils, because we should be able to do a thing like that,” Marchionne said last year when he confirmed the long-rumored return of the Wagoneer. “And we will.”
Marchionne’s vision puts the new Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer on the same plateau as the Land Rover Range Rover as well as the Cadillac Escalade, Mercedes-Benz GLS and Lincoln Navigator, which is due for a major redesign next year.
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It will compete on price too. It’s certainly going to be pricier than a pimped out Grand Cherokee that tops out north of $65,000 in SRT trim right now, although the “base” Wagoneer will likely start at a price then high-end Grand Cherokee range. The Grand Wagoneer should be expected to rival the $85,000 Range Rover.
Marchionne previously noted that the Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer will be built at the Warren Truck Assembly plant in Detroit, Michigan. The company is moving the current vehicle produced there, the Ram 1500, to the Sterling Heights Assembly plant in 2018.
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The Wagoneer’s entry comes as part of a refocusing of the FCA product line-up that moves car production out of the United States, allowing for more SUVs and crossovers to be built here. The Jeep line-up is expected to see a new Wrangler debuting in 2018 as well as the possibility of a model smaller than the recently introduced Renegade, according to Manley.
The last Jeep Grand Wagoneer was built for the 1993 model year, not the 1991. The final SJ Grand Wagoneer was a 1991, but there was a one-year ZJ Grand Wagoneer as a fully optioned, V8-powered Grand Cherokee-based model.