A month ahead of its official debut, Jeep releases the first official shots of the 2011 Grand Cherokee.
Long-troubled Chrysler is offering us the first official look at the most important new product to be coming down its pipeline this year, the 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee.
One of only a handful of all-new or significantly-updated products planned for the coming year, the ’11 Jeep will have to convince the legions of skeptics and naysayers that there really was a good reason to bail out the automaker last year.
While it will likely take several years to prove out that argument, one way or the other, the new look for the 2011 Grand Cherokee is winning early fans. The updated Jeep shows that Jeep – and the rest of the Chrysler brands – will be moving rapidly away from the awkwardly boxy look of models like the old Grand Cherokee, as well as the current-generation Chrysler minivans.
The fourth-generation Grand Cherokee lands at a critical time for the auto industry, and for Jeep, in particular. Since the last version debuted there has been a sharp shift in public demand – notably a general shift away from truck-based sport-utility vehicles in favor of car-based crossovers.
Ironically, though Jeep has always played up the truck-like heritage and capabilities of the Grand Cherokee, the model line has always used a unibody, rather than body-on-frame design. The question is whether Jeep will play that up when the new model hits showrooms.
(A key competitor, the Ford Explorer, will shift from body-on-frame to unibody with the model debuting in 2011.)
One way or the other, Jeep will continue billing the 2011 Grand Cherokee as ready to take on the toughest roads an owner can find. The new model will be offered with a choice of three different 4×4 systems, as well as the new Quadra-Lift Air Suspension and Selec-Terrain. The latter system will operate similarly to Land Rover’s Terrain Response control, permitting a driver to dial in the right road setting, say, for snow or mud. In turn, that will adjust an array of vehicle dynamics, from ride height to braking, automatically.
As with its competitors, Jeep is billing fuel economy as a positive attribute on the 2011 Grand Cherokee, with the new Pentastar 3.6-liter V6 capable of delivering up to 23 mpg highway.
The 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee will debut at $30,995 for the Laredo 4X2, with the 4X4 version adding another $2,000. Sales are set to begin in June.