Automotive News reports that the automaker will be showing the reborn icon to dealers and dealership managers on August 25 at a special preview in Las Vegas, where no cell phones or recording equipment will be allowed.
Not even those people know what they’ll see, but AN has some hard facts and some educated guesses about what it will be.
For instance, the site said, “On May 19, Fiat Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne told reporters that the Grand Wagoneer should share a common platform with the next generation of the two-row Jeep Grand Cherokee.” So, the Grand Wagoneer will be a unibody.
Given the hardware it will share with the Grand Cherokee, the next Grand Wagoneer will likely come with upgraded V6 and HEMI V8 engines paired with an eight-speed automatic. AN also mentioned a diesel engine.
Visually, the Grand Wagoneer is expected to resemble the SJ Cherokee.
Its off-road components and independent front and rear suspensions should be up a notch from those that will be in the next Grand Cherokee, but don’t expect the Grand Wagoneer to perform as if it were a three-row Wrangler Rubicon.
However, you might be able to expect the Grand Wagoneer to perform more efficiently. A comment made by FCA CEO Sergio Marchionne implies that the vehicle will be made of aluminum, which means the next-generation Grand Cherokee will be as well, given the platform the two models will likely share.
The leather-, brushed metal-, and gadget-stuffed interior should be competitive to that found in a Range Rover, a rig we told you Jeep is targeting.
One vehicle Jeep’s going to avoid associating its Grand Wagoneer with is its own Commander, the company’s last three-row offering and an object of hatred for Marchionne.
Derek Shiekhi's father raised him on cars. As a boy, Derek accompanied his dad as he bought classics such as post-WWII GM trucks and early Ford Mustang convertibles.
After loving cars for years and getting a bachelor's degree in Business Management, Derek decided to get an associate degree in journalism. His networking put him in contact with the editor of the Austin-American Statesman newspaper, who hired him to write freelance about automotive culture and events in Austin, Texas in 2013. One particular story led to him getting a certificate for learning the foundations of road racing.
While watching TV with his parents one fateful evening, he saw a commercial that changed his life. In it, Jeep touted the Wrangler as the Texas Auto Writers Association's "SUV of Texas." Derek knew he had to join the organization if he was going to advance as an automotive writer. He joined the Texas Auto Writers Association (TAWA) in 2014 and was fortunate to meet several nice people who connected him to the representatives of several automakers and the people who could give him access to press vehicles (the first one he ever got the keys to was a Lexus LX 570). He's now a regular at TAWA's two main events: the Texas Auto Roundup in the spring and the Texas Truck Rodeo in the fall.
Over the past several years, Derek has learned how to drive off-road in various four-wheel-drive SUVs (he even camped out for two nights in a Land Rover), and driven around various tracks in hot hatches, muscle cars, and exotics. Several of his pieces, including his article about the 2015 Ford F-150 being crowned TAWA's 2014 "Truck of Texas" and his review of the Alfa Romeo 4C Spider, have won awards in TAWA's annual Excellence in Craft Competition. Last year, his JK Forum profile of Wagonmaster, a business that restores Jeep Wagoneers, won prizes in TAWA’s signature writing contest and its pickup- and SUV-focused Texas Truck Invitational.
