Seven-seat Grand Cherokee ruled out

Jeep has all but ruled out a seven-seat version of the current and next-generation Grand Cherokee, but will release a belated replacement for the big Commander SUV.

The Commander was the last seven-seat model to be offered by the US off-road brand in Australia before its discontinuation here in 2010.

However, recent US reports suggest a seven-seat Commander successor will emerge by around 2016, filling a void in Jeep’s local SUV line-up.

Jeep’s sister brands Dodge and Fiat offer seven-seat models in the form of the Journey and Freemont twins, but both are effectively people-movers based on front-wheel drive platforms.

Chrysler Group’s Vehicle Line Executive for International Products and Programs, John Mrozowski, who until six months ago was the Grand Cherokee program manager, would not comment on a replacement for the Commander but did not rule it out.

“I can’t speculate on future product actions but if there’s demand out there and we have architectures that support a third row anything can happen,” he said.

Mrozowski admitted that a seven-seat Grand Cherokee is “something that is discussed, a common question”, but said access to the third row would be problematic given the WK rides on the same platform and wheelbase as the latest Mercedes-Benz M-Class, which offers just five seats. He pointed out that the larger GL-Class seven-seater rides on a longer wheelbase.

New Fiat Chrysler Group President and CEO Veronica Johns also recognises the need for a seven-seat SUV in the local Jeep range, but pointed to the outstanding sales success of the Grand Cherokee as is, and questioned how many buyers actually make use of the third row in their seven-seat SUVs.

“We do get that (seven-seat Grand Cherokee) question a lot locally, but we’re really happy with the results that we’re getting with the Grand Cherokee already,” she told motoring.com.au.

“If an option on a car is $1500 for two extra seats then a lot of people will take that but whether it’s actually getting used in that segment is a different question.

“All I know is that unfortunately we don’t compete in that segment, so we just concentrate on what we have.”

Chrysler Group CEO Sergio Marchionne said in 2011 that there would be a seven-seat Jeep SUV by 2013. Wards Auto reported earlier this year that the Grand Wagoneer name has been confirmed for that model, but that engineering work was continuing.

Jeep’s all-new fourth-generation WK-series Grand Cherokee was launched Down Under in February 2011 with a sharp starting price of just $45,000 plus on-road costs, making the entry-level Laredo 4WD just a few hundred dollars more expensive than equivalent AWD petrol versions of Ford’s top-selling Australian-made Territory and the Toyota Kluger.

As a result, Australian SUV buyers purchased no fewer than 16,553 examples of the new WK GC – more than three and a half times the number of previous-generation models sold here in its entire model life – making it the most successful Jeep ever sold here.

It also made Australia the world’s second largest market (and largest right-hand drive market) for the Grand Cherokee, which last year was the second most popular five-seat SUV after the homegrown Territory and among the top five most popular large SUVs overall.

The Grand Cherokee accounts for 40 per cent of Chrysler Jeep Dodge sales in Australia, where Jeep sales increased by 42 per cent to May this year, 108 per cent last year and 80 per cent in 2011.

The Grand Cherokee is Jeep’s top-selling model globally with more than 220,000 sold last year and about five million finding homes since 1992.

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