China gets its own Jeep concept
If you want proof that American car manufacturers are taking the Chinese market extremely seriously — regardless of what their President may wish for — you have only to look at a concept car unveiled at the Shanghai Motor Show a couple of weeks back.
Coverage of the Jeep Yuntu concept kind of flew under the radar for the most part, but it’s an interesting unveiling for two reasons. First, it looks like a Jeep that Fiat Chrysler has been promising for some time; the seven- seater Wagoneer. Secondly, it’s for China and China alone. The big spoil sports.
Okay, so the dual- opening “suicide” door design is unlikely to make it into production but everything else on offer here looks impressive. It up- ends the conventional seven- seater layout by having two big captain’s chairs in the second row and three seats in the third. There are touchscreens everywhere and many cows have been sacrificed for the interior trim.
The concept at least features a hybrid powertrain that, says its designers, can theoretically be charged wirelessly. It also features a drone that flies ahead of the vehicle when off- road and scans potential paths, effectively creating a sort of semiautonomous mud- plugger butler/ droid. Cool.
If the Yuntu is approved, Jeep will co- develop the model with the Guangzhou Automobile Industry Group ( GAC).
The appearance of the Yuntu still doesn’t, however, answer our main question: when is the Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer luxury pairing going to surface?
New Zealand’s Fiat Chrysler boss David Smitherman told media at a Jeep event this year that it would be 2019 before we saw the Range Rover rivalling topshelf SUVs. Although across the Tasman, Smitherman’s equivalent, Guillaume Drelon, popped the party balloons this week when he told the Aussie media pack that Wagoneer production for righthand- drive markets remains far from assured.
Going on what we’ve seen of the Yuntu, it looks like the better prospect, anyway. Not that we’ll be getting that either, of course.