Jeep Wagoneer "under study" for Australia
All-new seven-seat SUV could take on Toyota LandCruiser from 2022The Toyota LandCruiser could have a serious rival again if the new Jeep Wagoneer and its upmarket relation, the Grand Wagoneer, are confirmed for Australia.
Spied testing in disguise two weeks ago, the full-size seven-seat SUV is currently under development in North America.
“It is under study right now,” Jeep global president Christian Meunier told Australian media when quizzed about Wagoneer’s chances Down Under.
“We need to sell a lot of cars [in Australia] and then see if the Wagoneer has potential,” Meunier said at this week’s Gladiator ute launch in New Zealand.
Pushed harder, Meunier conceded “we should” offer the Wagoneer in Australia.
“But there are some prioritisations. Life is all about prioritising,” he cautioned.
The Jeep Wagoneer models would provide a boost to Meunier’s staggeringly ambitious plan to reach 50,000 sales per annum in Australia.
According to documents published in the wake of a new agreement between Jeep’s parent FCA and the United Auto Workers union, the Wagoneer family will be built at the Warren plant in Michigan from 2021.
That would set it up as a potential 2022 arrival in Australia.
Based on the latest RAM 1500 ladder-frame chassis, the Wagoneers are expected to come with V6 and V8 petrol engines and a diesel option.
The line-up will also include a plug-in hybrid as part of Jeep’s commitment to provide electrified choices for its entire line-up by 2022.
In the USA, the Wagoneers are intended to take on the likes of the Chevrolet Suburban and Lincoln Navigator.
In Australia, they would square off against both the LandCruiser and its upscale Lexus LX close relation.
The Wagoneers would sit above the expanded Grand Cherokee monocoque SUV family, which is confirmed for Australian sale in 2021-22 and will include a seven-seat version for the first time.
The LandCruiser 200 Series currently commands 88 per cent of Australia’s upper large SUV segment, with the petrol V8-powered Nissan Patrol its only opposition.
Toyota has confirmed development of the 300 Series LandCruiser is underway. It is due to arrive in about two years.
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