Seven-seat SUV only for Chinese market
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 fourcylinder engine mated to a ninespeed 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.
But for reasons unknown, 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.
To further tease us, 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 aforementioned Grand Wagoneer planned for North America will be aimed slightly more upmarket than that, and might possibly approach six-figure territory.