Jeep planning "super-premium" Grand Wagoneer

The company will soon announce an electrification plan, too.

Jeep promised to position the upcoming Grand Wagoneer well above the Grand Cherokee, its current flagship model. We'll have to be patient to see the SUV in the metal, however.

"Grand Wagoneer will be super premium. We've been working on it for several years. It has a long gestation period, and will be clearly positioned significantly above Grand Cherokee," Jeep boss Mike Manley told Top Gear on the side-lines of the Geneva Auto Show.

His comments suggest the born-again Grand Wagoneer will lock horns with the Cadillac Escalade, the Lincoln Navigator, and the GMC Yukon Denali. It's too early to talk pricing, but we wouldn't be surprised to see the model start somewhere between $60,000 and $70,000. To add context, an entry-level Grand Cherokee costs $30,695. It tops out at $86,000, though that's for the Hellcat-powered Trackhawk model.

The Grand Wagoneer will arrive in about 2020, so a little bit later than expected. As we previously reported, it will ride on the same frame as the recently-introduced 2019 Ram 1500. Sources blame the delay on the complexity of switching from the Grand Cherokee's unibody platform to the 1500's body-on-frame architecture halfway through the development process.

Manley added Jeep is looking at how to integrate electrification into its lineup, though he didn't single out the Grand Wagoneer. He promised we'll learn more about the brand's hybrid and, potentially, electric car strategy when it publishes a five-year plan on June 1st, 2018. Right now, he's keeping every option on the table.

"I think the key driver is what do you want the vehicle to be able to do? Is it a reasonable range on all electric? Or diesel-like fuel efficiency? Many people are achieving that. Toyota's RAV4 hybrid has fuel economy better than a diesel in that segment. What I've been thinking with our team is how we deploy electric across the range," he explained.

Photo by Ronan Glon.