After sitting out of a crucially important midsize segment for far too long, Jeep is poised to re-enter the game with a new Cherokee.
Set to arrive later this year, the next Cherokee looks every inch a Jeep, with a seven-slot grille bookended by headlights which look familiar but are sufficiently different from other models in the fold. This helps avoid the current conundrum facing Jeep shoppers in which a Grand Cherokee looks like a Grand Cherokee L looks like a Wagoneer looks like a … you get the point. Sure, they’re fairly easy to discern when parked cheek-to-jowl on a dealer lot but are more difficult to tell apart in vacuum.
Details are scanty but Jeep promises a hybrid powertrain of some sort, likely of the mild (not plug-in) variety and juiced by a four-cylinder engine. This being Jeep, all-wheel drive is obviously part of the deal. Eagle eyes will notice the lack of a Trail Rated badge on the fender of that blue Cherokee shown in these official photos, a detail worth noting since Hydro Blue is generally the hero color for Trailhawk models. Those are also markedly road-like 50-series tires, as well. We expect Jeep will roll out photos of burly trims in due course.
“Jeep Cherokee will boast competitive pricing that strikes at the core of the largest vehicle segment and sits perfectly between Jeep Compass and Jeep Grand Cherokee to bolster our winning mainstream line up,” said Bob Broderdorf, Jeep CEO. Corporate word salad aside, Jeep needs a competitor in what is arguably the hottest and most cutthroat segment in the market, one filled with plenty of options for customers and no shortage of profits for automakers. Not playing in the midsize segment left a lot of money on the table, a situation Jeep is surely eager to rectify.
The last Cherokee was a good-looking rig slightly hampered by a smaller-than-average cargo area. Your author can comment on such things after buying a V6-powered ‘20 Trailhawk new off the lot just as Covid was shutting everything down. This new one is planned to hit stores before the end of this year.
[Images: Jeep]
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