DETROIT — Jeep on Thursday plans to unveil the redesigned 2021 Grand Cherokee, including a three-row version for the first time.
Production will begin in the first quarter at a new assembly plant created from a former engine factory in Detroit.
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles CEO Mike Manley said last year that the new three-row SUV would enter a “white space that offers the potential for a very strong margin.” At the time the company hadn’t revealed whether it would be part of the Grand Cherokee lineup or a separate nameplate.
Jeep confirmed the reveal date and the use of the Grand Cherokee name in an email to customers this week, saying, “The most awarded SUV ever is adding something new to the adventure — a third row.”
The roomier Grand Cherokee is part of a larger product offensive that will help diversify the Jeep brand’s portfolio in 2021 as FCA moves ahead with its merger with France’s PSA Group to form a larger automaker called Stellantis. The Wrangler 4xe plug-in hybrid, which gets 25 miles of electric range, went into production last month and should be arriving in the first quarter. Other new additions include the V-8-powered Wrangler Rubicon 392 that goes on sale in the first quarter and the premium Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer utility vehicles that will take the brand upstream later this year.
The Grand Cherokee’s U.S. sales were down 14 percent last year, coming in at 209,786. But they were down just 2 percent in the fourth quarter to 56,930 units.
