Back in January, Jeep uncovered the fifth-generation Grand Cherokee with an “L” added to its name. The “L” pointed to the additional third-row of seats. As promised back then, Jeep has now unveiled the five-seater version of the new Grand Cherokee. It now gets a plug-in-hybrid 4xe version as well, even in the most hardcore Trailhawk variant.
Since its inception in 1993, the Jeep Grand Cherokee has been a successful player in the mainstream mid-size SUV segment, even though their original pitch about chasing Range Rovers was absolute nonsense. It’s gone through four generations since then (we owned a second-gen model). For 2021, Jeep has taken the covers off an all-new 2021 Grand Cherokee L three-row model, that will be sold alongside the existing 5-seater Grand Cherokee that will get the replacement later in the year.
Jeep is synonymous with off-roading, and nothing epitomised that more than their Trailhawk-branded range of vehicles, which came with more offroad equipment than regular versions of the Renegade, the Compass and the Grand Cherokee. We found all three Trailhawk models to be impressive both on and off the road. Yet there was a lot of noise being made to build a Hellcat version of the Grand Cherokee SRT, offroad abilities be damned. So they did. And it gave birth to a new badge — Trackhawk. And we got to try out for a few minutes at a racetrack in the United States.
Anticipated for over a year, the Hellcat-powered 2018 Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk has finally been revealed, instantly becoming the most powerful production SUV ever created.
The current generation of the Jeep Grand Cherokee has been around for half a decade now, with a second facelift debuting for the 2017 model year. Changes are minimal, and there is no reason to change it anyway, considering what a fine product it continues to be even now. However, a new Trailhawk model has been added to the line-up, and we got the chance to try it out in and around the city of Las Vegas, Nevada.
The 2017 Jeep Grand Cherokee was previewed at the 2016 New York Auto Show to celebrate the 75th Anniversary of the Jeep brand. Shown were the new Trailhawk and updated Summit variants, aside from a general range-wide facelift.
Jeep unveiled seven new concepts at the 2015 Moab Easter Jeep Safari. The Easter Jeep Safari is an annual event held in Michigan, US attended by thousands of off-road enthusiasts, who each year enjoy a week of serious off-roading on some of the country’s most rugged trails.
We were invited to an off-road event organized by Eastern Motors, the dealers for Jeep in Al Ain. Called the Jeep Funatic, the event was the first of its kind to be organized in Al Ain, and is similar to the Jeep Jamboree event held annually in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. While the Jeepers were expected to roll in their own Jeeps, we were handed over a ride by the dealer. Expecting nothing more (and less) than a Wrangler, we were in for a surprise, as the ride turned out to be a 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited V6.
We used to own a 2002 Jeep Grand Cherokee right up till last year. Despite what hype you may hear, the Grand Cherokee has never been a Range Rover rival; more entry-level luxury rather than premium luxury. But the real reason we bought one back then was because it was the cheapest way to get behind the wheel of a midsize SUV with a big V8 under the bonnet. The latest Grand Cherokee still offers the same formula for those who prefer it, with a little more premium gadgetry now thrown in.
We are currently living in the age of the super-SUV, a crazy new market niche that’s populated by 4x4s that suck offroad, but can chase down sports cars in the straights and, with enough balls, even around corners. And the current poster-child of this unfathomable fad at the moment is none other than the Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8, the most affordable of this expensive lot that’s otherwise dominated by the Germans. We drove the 2014 iteration of the Jeep SRT8 at the launch of the updated Grand Cherokee range in Dubai recently. Apparently it’ll only go by “Grand Cherokee SRT”