Jeep Grand Cherokee axed: Former Toyota Prado nemesis dead in Australia

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Jeep Grand Cherokee axed: Former Toyota Prado nemesis dead in Australia

It was once Australia’s best-selling large SUV, but now the

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has been axed in our market.

“As we look to right-size the Jeep product portfolio to match local market dynamics and customer preferences, we’ve made the difficult decision to pause availability of the current model Jeep Grand Cherokee in Australia,” said a spokesperson for Stellantis Australia, the factory distributor for the Jeep brand.

“While the Jeep Grand Cherokee will continue to be sold in many countries around the world, this decision allows us to focus our efforts on placing the right products in the right segments that can have the greatest relevance for our customers.

“The Jeep brand remains fully committed to the *********** market and Stellantis continues to invest heavily in its global product portfolio.”

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The axing leaves Jeep with just the

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,

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,

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and

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, though it has confirmed the electric Recon and

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are planned for a 2026 launch.

The Grand Cherokee’s future in Australia was already looking murky, following Jeep’s confirmation earlier this year the new electric Wagoneer S would replace the Grand Cherokee in Europe.

Jeep has subsequently revealed a final edition of the Grand Cherokee in Japan with unique badging, as it phases the large SUV out in right-hand drive markets.

It’s been a long, long fall for the Grand Cherokee, which outsold the

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in 2014 to become Australia’s best-selling large SUV.

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That year, Jeep delivered 16,582 Grand Cherokees in Australia, accounting for more than half of total brand deliveries and beating out the Prado by 470 deliveries.

Last year, Jeep delivered just 645 Grand Cherokees, a slump of 48.3 per cent on the previous year. That means Grand Cherokee sales have fallen by 96 per cent since 2014.

The current WL generation launched here in 2022, initially only in long-wheelbase, three-row L guise – the first Grand Cherokee to offer seven seats.

But while it offered greater practicality, the WL did without the turbo-diesel V6 of its WK2 predecessor which had accounted for around 57 per cent of Grand Cherokee sales in Australia.

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Indeed, there was no diesel available in the Grand Cherokee in any market.

Not only that, but the 5.7-litre Hemi V8 wasn’t offered in local-market models, though it was sold in markets like the US. That left just a naturally aspirated 3.6-litre petrol V6.

This meant the Grand Cherokee no longer boasted braked towing capacity of 3500kg to match popular body-on-frame SUVs, with the flagship Summit Reserve initially offering a capacity of just 2268kg.

In 2023, Jeep

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to 2813kg across the range, and also launched a shorter, two-row version.

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Despite criticism from Jeep enthusiasts, then-Jeep Australia managing director Kevin Flynn

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, “Without doubt, we will have some diesel customers which are going to have to reconsider and work out what actually do they need.”

“And it’s quite possible that actually the vehicle still with 2800[kg braked towing capacity] is still going to be enough for them to adequately pull what they need to pull.”

Jeep executives appeared to hint more powerful engines were possible, but these never eventuated despite the Hemi V8 being phased out overseas.

The WL therefore failed to arrest the protracted sales decline of the Grand Cherokee in Australia, despite the introduction of not only a three-row configuration but also a plug-in hybrid.

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The

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joined the local lineup in 2023, though this was exclusive to the two-row Grand Cherokee and offered only in flagship Summit Reserve trim and priced at a lofty $128,950 before on-roads.

Jeep took an axe to Grand Cherokee prices in May 2024, with reductions of up to $28,000 on model year 2023 (MY23) vehicles.

This also saw the base price slashed by $12,500 to $65,450 before on-roads. Jeep is now advertising Grand Cherokees from under $60,000 drive-away, with some demo examples on their stock locator tool priced from as little as $54,990 drive-away.

Jeep never ended up bringing any MY24 Grand Cherokees to Australia.

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As the Grand Cherokee’s fortunes have faded in Australia, so too have the Jeep brand’s.

The Grand Cherokee’s high watermark was also the Jeep brand’s in Australia, with the brand recording 30,408 deliveries in 2014.

Sales subsequently fell every year thereafter, apart from a slight increase in 2021.

Last year, Jeep delivered just 2456 vehicles here, down almost 50 per cent on the previous year. Every model apart from the newly launched

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posted double-digit declines.

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Jeep’s dealership network has shrunk from 65 locations in 2021 to 44, though 12 of these recently picked up Leapmotor franchises.

The ******** brand and Stellantis have entered into a joint-venture to distribute electric and extended-range electric vehicles (EVs and EREVs) in various global markets, and Leapmotor’s first model here – the

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– undercuts many other mid-sized electric SUVs.

The brand could therefore give struggling Jeep dealers a shot in the arm.

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It’s unclear how the Wagoneer S will be priced in Australia. It’s slightly shorter and narrower than the two-row Grand Cherokee, and also has just two rows of seating.

It rides the STLA Large platform which supports combustion, plug-in hybrid and electric powertrains, though thus far it has only been confirmed to offer electric power.

In the US, it starts at US$66,995 (~A$108,000), or still around US$6000 more than the most affordable Grand Cherokee 4xe plug-in hybrid even after the reveal of a more affordable Limited trim.

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#Jeep #Grand #Cherokee #axed #Toyota #Prado #nemesis #dead #Australia

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