Jeep’s future plans will include all-new Cherokee and revived Wagoneer

Its parent company Fiat-Chrysler Automobiles’ (FCA) merger with the PSA Group looming closer, Jeep, the Italian/US manufacturer’s most profitable division, has provided a glimpse of its future plans from next year onwards.

According to automobilemag.com, the ball will be set into motion from the fourth quarter of 2020 when the disused Mack Avenue Engine Plant in Detroit, a facility that produced the PowerTech V8 engine until 2012 and before that, the original Dodge Viper from 1992 to 1995, starts producing the long awaited fifth generation Grand Cherokee as part of an extensive factory overhaul worth $1.6-billion (R23.9-billion).

In addition, the plant will also be equipped for production of plug-in hybrid and electric derivatives of the Compass, Renegade and Wrangler by 2021. The biggest unveiling of said year though is the highly awaited, all-new Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer.

Initially set to have debuted in 2018 before being pushed back to this year and then delayed indefinitely, the overdue replacement for the Commander that bowed out in 2010 will go into production from the first quarter of 2021 after a 28 year hiatus at the Warren Assembly Plant in Michigan alongside the Ram 1500, and feature the pick-up’s body-on frame platform with seating for seven.

Unlike the Yuntu concept that bowed at the Shanghai Auto Show two years ago though, and which eventually went on to become the Chinese market only Grand Commander a year later, the Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer’s likely differences will only be in the use of the mentioned plug-in hybrid drivetrains as the rest will be designed for North America.

Based on reports referring to FCA’s five year product plan tabled in June last year by late former CEO Sergio Marchionne, both the Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer, aside from their hybrid engines, will be petrol powered and could therefore use the long serving 3.6-litre Pentastar V6 engine, the 5.7-litre Hemi V8 with or without the Ram’s eTorque mild-hybrid system and possibly the 2.0-litre turbocharged mild-hybrid Hurricane four-cylinder from the Wrangler. The 3.0 EcoDiesel (CRD) V6 from the Grand Cherokee, Wrangler and Ram 1500 is however a possible candidate for markets outside the States.

Expect more details to be revealed or uncovered in the coming months.

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