Few things are as all-American as a big Jeep. And yet, as Glenn Brooks has been reflecting, the Grand Cherokee he’s been testing has a Daimler platform, a VM Motori engine and will soon be the basis of Maserati’s first SUV.
We heard Sergio Marchionne stating recently that Jeep is expected to sell one million vehicles in 2014. It’s a big ask as that would mean a jump of 37 percent from the 731,565 vehicles delivered worldwide last year. Can it be done? Well, it’s possible, and to be fair, Jeep was without one of its best sellers for almost all of last year, build of the old Cherokee (Liberty in North America) having ceased in August 2012.
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The reason for the hiatus was a plant refit at Toledo North in Ohio. This went to plan, but when the factory did re-open, workers were suddenly building a new model, on a new platform, with the world’s first nine-speed automatic gearbox, and all the while applying new global manufacturing standards introduced by Fiat. Chrysler, once hardly a name associated with high quality vehicles, rightly decided it was better to delay the production ramp-up. So the first new Cherokees were not with dealers until November. Here in Europe, we’ll see the new model in the Spring, following on from the world premiere of diesel variants at next month’s Geneva show.
Despite the production and delivery delays, the new Cherokee is off to a strong start in its home region. This was one of the main factors in Jeep having its best January ever in the US, with 9,553 Cherokees delivered and brand sales of 41,910 units. That also meant a YoY rise of 38 percent, and sales records for the Compass, Patriot and Wrangler were also broken last month. The best selling Jeep of 2014 remains the division’s biggest, most profitable model: 12,207 Grand Cherokees were sold in January.
Clearly, things are going well in America but Europe is where management eyes will be sharply focused this year. That’s because it is in this region where a crucial new vehicle is set to enter production. One half of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles’ B-SUV project, and expected to be called either Laredo or Scamp, this is the twin of the forthcoming Fiat 500X. Both will be manufactured at FCA’s Melfi plant, where EUR1bn has been spent. The Jeep comes first, with the 500X to follow from the second half of 2014.
According to a 20 December 2012 media release from Fiat, Melfi will be capable of manufacturing up to 1,600 vehicles a day via three shifts. The plant will also be able to build up to four different vehicles on the same line. The architecture which underpins these as yet unseen compact models is SUSW (‘Small Wide’), as introduced by the Fiat 500L. Naturally, four-wheel drive will be available but in Europe, most buyers will undoubtedly choose front-wheel drive for the expected tax savings.
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By GlobalDataApart from the B-SUV mentioned earlier, there’s one other additional new model on the horizon, and that’s the Grand Wagoneer. It’s also the reason why there’s no seven-seater Grand Cherokee. Chrysler Group announced the revival of this dormant model name at the 2011 Detroit motor show but the vehicle is yet to be seen. It will likely appear at a US motor show this year and is due to enter production in 2015.
Remember the Jeep Commander; the one with the chunky, bolted-on wheelarches? It was phased out in 2010 but there are high hopes for its obviously long overdue successor. This full-sized seven-seater will be built at the same suburban Detroit plant which makes the Grand Cherokee and Dodge Durango. Judging by the US market sales of these two last year – 174,275 and 154,734 – could there be a more profitable FCA production plant than Jefferson North? On top of that, while the Durango has only a handful of export markets outside Canada and Mexico, Chrysler managed to build an astonishing 255,055 GCs in 2013. With the exception of the heavy duty Ram pick-ups, this has to be FCA’s most profitable model.
Another Grand Cherokee derivative will be introduced later this year but it won’t be a Jeep. Maserati’s first SUV, the Levante, is set to enter production not in Michigan but at Mirafiori, close to Fiat’s Turin headquarters. Nothing is official yet but it won’t be a surprise if Ferrari petrol engines feature, in addition to a more powerful version of the existing VM Motori V6 diesel as used by various Chrysler Group models.
The 3.0-litre diesel is standard for all Grand Cherokees sold in the UK, with the exception of the range topping SRT8; that one being fitted with Chrysler’s burbling 6.4-litre V8. It produces 461bhp and sprints to 62mph in five seconds dead. There’s a price to pay, this being an Urban average of 13.6mpg, which rises to 20.2mpg on the more everyday Combined cycle.
The test vehicle was in Summit trim, which brings with it the higher powered diesel (there is a base 188bhp 3.0-litre as well as the as-tested 247bhp version). Whichever engine you select, it’s paired to an eight-speed ZF automatic transmission. Fuel consumption for the 3.0 CRD Summit is 37.7mpg Combined and I saw 31mpg, with most of my driving being in-town and with the A/C going.
There were two motorway trips, during which the Grand Cherokee was a revelation compared to previous generation models. Wind noise was low, stability on what was a windy day was good and the steering was a big improvement over the previous WK series model, though you couldn’t mistake this for a Range Rover Sport. Having said that, as speeds rise, air springs lower the vehicle automatically, cutting drag and fuel consumption, and to me, it felt as though the handling also improved.
The Grand Cherokee’s true rivals aren’t necessarily high-priced and low-riding European SUVs, nor was the Grand Cherokee designed to directly compete with models such as these. It can, however, hold its own with the latest Discovery, though that’s a larger vehicle so can be a bit more ponderous and wallowy if pushed hard. The Jeep has an interior which looks more up to date than the Land Rover’s too, even if there are some annoyances, such as the idea of putting so many functions onto the central touchscreen. Examples include heating for the seats and steering wheel which must be reset every time you start the ignition. This you must do via a screen menu: what’s wrong with simple push-buttons?
As well as the ability to lower or lift the ride height at the touch of a button (and not a virtual one on the infotainment screen either), there were a couple of other handy features. The rear view mirrors have been tinted with a blue filter but you won’t notice this until the sun begins to set behind you – this thoughtful touch automatically prevented distracting glare on a couple of occasions.
Overall, I enjoyed my time with the latest Grand Cherokee. The mid-life facelift and eight-speed transmission – the main changes for the 2014 model year – succeed in keeping the vehicle looking and feeling contemporary. For the money, it offers good value and comes extremely well equipped, while globally, the brand name is second to none, though here in the UK, many would consider it second to one. As Jeep’s current flagship and the future basis of some even bigger and more profitable SUVs to come, it serves Chrysler extremely well.
