Jeep Australia is aiming high for its new-generation Grand Cherokee large SUV, pushing more upmarket than ever before and hoping customers will “come along with us on the journey”.
As a reminder, the 2023 Grand Cherokee now kicks off from $77,950 before on-road costs, a noticeable $17,500 jump from the outgoing equivalent.
The increase is eased a bit as you move up the product line however, with the Limited positioned at $83,950 (+$9500) while the top-spec-for-now Overland is $98,450 (+$14,000).
Speaking to CarsGuide at the product presentation of the five-seat Grand Cherokee, Jeep Australia Head of Product Rick Crichton said the extra levels of equipment help explain the price increase.
“The car is chalk and cheese compared to the old one. The amount of equipment that is packed into the car even standard from Night Eagle, it justifies the price increase,” he said.
“Hopefully the customers are going to come along with us on the journey.
“We will definitely be appealing to some new customers that we wouldn’t have before, and hopefully we can take as many of them with us on the journey as possible.”
Of course, Jeep’s new Grand Cherokee features a laundry list of new standard equipment to help ease the price-rise sting, including cutting-edge features like an internet-connected multimedia system that allows for seamless over-the-air updates, connected services to track and speed-limit the vehicle, and a new smartphone app designed to keep owners connected even when away from the car.
Safety also takes a significant step up, with forward collision warning, autonomous emergency braking (AEB) with pedestrian and cyclist detection, adaptive cruise control, traffic sign recognition, driver attention alert, lane-keep assist, blind spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, and front and rear parking sensors all standard across the board.
Jeep claims the new Grand Cherokee is 98 per cent new compared to the old car, however the powertrain used in the 2023 version is still a 3.6-litre petrol V6 paired with an eight-speed automatic transmission – albeit with updates and revisions.
However, moving the Grand Cherokee upmarket also means it leaves the large SUV under $70,000 segment that includes the likes of the Ford Everest, Hyundai Palisade and Toyota Prado, for premium rivals that have German badges.
While the likes of the Audi Q7, BMW X5 and Mercedes-Benz GLE all start from above $110,000, there are premium players like the Genesis GV80, Jaguar F-Pace, Land Rover Defender and incoming Mazda CX-90 with comparable costs to the new Grand Cherokee.
Jeep Australia also indicated that the buyer demographic for the new Grand Cherokee are young, professional families with a combined household income of $300,000-plus.
Jeep Australia Head of Corporate Communications Tracie Stoltenburg said the Grand Cherokee is targeting conquest buyers from all marques, including those that might even be waiting upwards of 18 months for a Toyota LandCruiser 300 Series.
“All the competitors in the segment are a competitor,” she said.
“With the product, and with what these guys have loaded it with, we are definitely moving more into that premium space.
“We want every customer to buy our car, doesn’t matter what you are looking for.”
Jeep, however, would not be drawn on sales expectations of its new-generation Grand Cherokee.
The high-water mark for the Grand Cherokee was back in 2014, when Jeep sold 16,582 units to make it the most popular large SUV in its class, beating out even the Toyota Prado (16,112) and Kluger (11,484).
However, the 2014 Grand Cherokee started from as little as $53,000 back when the Australian dollar was close to parity with the USD.
In terms of sales split between variants for the five-seater Grand Cherokee, the most popular will be the second-from-the-bottom Limited, accounting for about 40 per cent of share, while the entry-level Night Eagle will total about 30 per cent of interest.
The Overland will snag around 20 per cent of buyers, while the top-spec and yet-to-launch plug-in hybrid in Summit Reserve trim will make up the remainder of sales (10%).
Jeep also expects the sales split between five- and seven-seater Grand Cherokees to be even to begin with, but the three-row large SUV will take the majority share (70%) in the long term.
Keyword: Jeep justifies 2023 Grand Cherokee price rise: 'The car is chalk and cheese compared to the old one'