Jeep Grand Cherokee 2010 News

Manufacturers including BMW, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA), Peugeot and Citroen have issued recalls via the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).

Any company chasing sales success has to have their cabin quality right to win people in the 'gee whizz' moment when they first drop into the driver's seat.Toyota Australia learned all about this in the early months of its Camry export program to the Middle East.  None of its customers was remotely interested in a test drive, they just wanted to look and touch and smell to see if the Camry was good enough. And it failed . . .The Camry project was teetering on the edge until Toyota set up a pair of major-league rectification stations, one in Singapore and one in the Middle East, while it tracked and fixed the source of the complaints at its production line at Altona. Cars were rolled off in Singapore and tweaked by one team, then given a final once-over and update just before heading to local showrooms in the Middle East.The quality commitment worked, thankfully, and the success of today's Camry is largely down to the number exported from Melbourne to the Middle East.  I am reminded of this cabin quality contest as I jumped into the latest Grand Cherokee from Jeep, a brand which has plenty of room for improvement.Audi was the first to make a big deal about its cabins and quality - with classy design work, luscious materials and fabulous finishing - and it has paid off from the brand, as well as forcing its rivals to lift their game.  Audi is today's interior benchmark and it will stay in front for a long time.So, what about Jeep and Chrysler?  Several times I was involved in heated arguments with the American company's former design boss, Trevor Creed, about the sub-standard finishing at his brand. Creed used every excuse in the book, from sub- standard suppliers to the cost of parts and even a need to keep a rugged look at Jeep.It was, of course, all rubbish.  The Grand Cherokee of 2010 proves it, and sets a new direction for Chrysler, because the cabin is classy, creak-free and well finished. It's not an Audi but it is way, way better than anything which has worn a Jeep, Dodge or Chrysler badge in the past.  So Chrysler is on the right road for inside-out success, just like every other brand - from the fast-improving Hyundai to Rolls-Royce at the top end - that knows you only get one chance to make a first impression.Follow Paul Gover on Twitter!

The all-new Jeep Grand Cherokee comes with the promise of much better quality and refinement, as well as setting the signpost for Chrysler under its new Fiat ownership. Chrysler has deliberately chosen its flagship - and the best seller for the brand in Australia - to do the job. And there are surprises. Like the Mercedes-Benz ML mechanical packager under the Jeep bodywork, which came during the previous ownership of the iconic American brand."This vehicle will show people exactly where the Jeep brand is headed. And it's also about the future of our product interiors and powertrain technology," says Jerry Stamoulis of Chrysler Jeep Australia."It is, without a doubt, the most important launch since the new ownership. It's probably the most important since the Wrangler in 2007."Jeep has already shown its commitment to the car with a $31,000 starting price in the USA, where it is using a rear-drive model as a price leader. It also comes with an all-new Pentastar V6 engine with fuel economy of 10.2L/100km, and 216 kiloWatts from 3.6 litres. The cruising range is a claimed 805 kilometres for the petrol V6 and the cabin has 17 per cent more cargo volume as well as improved passenger space.But it's the little things - like plastics in the cabin, panel fits, paint quality and the operation of the switchgear - which will show if Chrysler can make good on its promises for the future. "Wait and see, but it all looks good," Stamoulis says.On the safety front, the Grand Cherokee gets six airbags as standard, as well as active head restraints, ESP stability control and anti-skid brakes. There will also be blind-spot monitoring and a system to warn about vehicles and people behind the vehicle. Off-road ability is a given for the Grand Cherokee, even though the brand has been led into a more urban focus in recent years, but the final tweaking and prices will not be decided for several months."The speficiation in the USA is very different to what w'ere taking, and we're still negotiating. It will be very competitive against what we're currently selling and we're negotating with the factory to get the best possible price," Stamoulis says. "We won't be taking the rear-wheel drive car, we will stick with the 4x4 only. But buyers can expect a lot more equipment than the base cars in the USA."The Australian operation knows the importance of the car, which is set for sales in January 2011. "We would like to see it doing well, but the market will decide," Stamoulis says. "It's our number one performing Jeep vehicle. We've sold more than Wrangler, which is currently at 16,700 since 1996."

The Grand Cherokee is being readied for a total change which will put an all-new model into production in January of 2010.Chrysler is in another fight just for survival, and there is talk that it could sell Jeep to finance the rest of the group, but there has been no obvious cost-cutting on development of the new flagship over the past three years.Despite the unfinished look of the car in our exclusive pictures, the next-generation WL is new from the road upwards.It has a new mechanical platform which Chrysler plans to share with the upcoming replacement for the Dodge Durango and - despite the two companies' split last year - the next-generation Mercedes-Benz ML four- wheel drive.The Benz will only get the basics from Jeep as its plan is to use the chassis from the American off-road specialist and then fit its own engines, suspensions and bodywork.The only known casualty of the Grand Cherokee program is the Jeep Commander, which has been killed because of slow sales.But Jeep intends to have a seven-passenger version of the Grand Cherokee next year, in addition to the five-seater which has done the job - including in Australia - through the life of the vehicle.A Jeep insider says the styling of the newcomer is a lot like the Trailhawk concept, but with somewhat sharper lines. The connection can be seen through the door outlines in the test car, which also has a seven-bar Jeep grille peeking out from behind the disguise.On the powerplant front, our soruces say Chrysler's new Phoenix V6 motor will be available in the Grand Cherokee in 3.3 and 3.6-litre displacements. A 4.7-litre V8 and Chrysler's signature 5.7-litre Hemi, also fitted to the 300C in Australia, are likely also in the cards.And there is likely to be a Grand Cherokee hybrid, as Chrysler taps the joint development work with General Motors and BMW.As usual, there will be rear and all-wheel drive systems in the Grand Cherokee, which is expected to have aluminium front suspension to cut weight and a towing capacity of more than three tonnes.The WL is expected to be built a Chrysler's Jefferson North factory from January of 2010. 

The wholesale restructuring of the US car industry has yielded some little gems of information, some of them from Chrysler.