China to get seven-seater Jeep, but we are not — yet
Jeep showed off official images of its Grand Commander this week, a clean-looking seven-seat SUV it’s building exclusively for the Chinese market, and said it has no plans of releasing it in North America.
The sketches reveal a vehicle very similar to the Yuntu concept it showed off in Shanghai in 2017, with an expected in-the-metal debut projected for April’s Beijing auto show, according to Automobile magazine. The Grand Commander will be powered by either a 234- or 265-horsepower 2.0-litre four-cylinder engine mated to a nine-speed automatic transmission.
In Canada and the U.S., the Jeep range is topped by the five-seat Grand Cherokee, meaning there’s a perfect opening here for a fullsize family hauler like the Grand Commander. The domestic market won’t see a Jeep like this until at
least 2020, when a new Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer are expected to debut. However, at the unveiling of the Yuntu concept last year, we did hear a Chrysler-badged hybrid-electric take on this Grand Commander could come to Jeep’s Illinois assembly facility by 2019.
Jeep’s advertising in China seems
to suggest the Grand Commander will be offered in a 4x4 model. The base price is equal to roughly US$38,000, while rumours are the Grand Wagoneer planned for North America will be aimed slightly more upmarket than that, and might possibly approach six-figure territory.
— Nicholas Maronese