What is going on with Jeep in Australia?

Jeep just axed the Grand Cherokee, one of its longest-running nameplates in Australia and a model that once challenged the Toyota Prado for large SUV sales supremacy, and even beat it one year.

It’s the culmination of years of sales declines for not only the Grand Cherokee, but also the Jeep brand as a whole, which saw last year’s tally the worst on record in the past 27 years.

Is it time to start the Jeep Australia deathwatch, or does the brand have a future in our market?

Jeep says it’s fully committed to our market and has fresh product coming, with the Wagoneer S crossover and Recon off-roader expected to arrive here in 2026.

Hundreds of new car deals are available through CarExpert right now. Get the experts on your side and score a great deal. Browse now.

Both use the new STLA Large architecture which supports combustion, plug-in hybrid and electric powertrains, though these vehicles have thus far been revealed only with electric power.

There’s a new-generation Compass and a Cherokee replacement set to be revealed this year, though we haven’t received official confirmation yet of these vehicles for our market.

Jeep has, however, hinted that more affordable mild-hybrid versions of its new entry-level Avenger could come here.

If all those cards fall into place, Jeep Australia’s future looks a little brighter.

But there’s a caveat there, and that’s pricing.

Despite protestations from executives that Jeep is a premium brand, high prices – no doubt affected by lousy exchange rates – have strangled sales.

Jeep had to slash Avenger prices by up to $4000 prior to its launch, and has flagged more price cuts could come.

With a base price of $49,990 before on-roads, however, the Avenger is still a tough sell against a Leapmotor C10 that can be found across the forecourt at many Jeep Australia dealers and which is priced from $45,888 before on-roads.

The C10 is larger, more practical and has a longer range, though it’s admittedly less style-focused.

The Compass switched from Indian to Italian sourcing, which allowed it to offer mild-hybrid and plug-in hybrid options.

But with this came a price hike for a model that was already priced uncomfortably close to mid-sized SUVs from rival brands, instead of similarly sized ones.

Now, the cheapest Compass asks mid-range Toyota RAV4 money for a smaller, less efficient vehicle.

The Wrangler and Gladiator received multiple price increases over the past few years, though recent pricing for model year 2023 (MY23) stock of the latter saw drive-away pricing slashed by up to $25,000.

MY23 Grand Cherokee models also received price cuts of up to $28,000, with entry-level examples now being advertised for under $60,000 drive-away – a flashback to simpler times when Jeep’s large SUV was one of the most popular and affordable vehicles in its segment.

The brand evidently grew too large, too quickly in the 2010s – something then-Fiat Chrysler Australia managing director Kevin Flynn acknowledged back in 2020.

Over the past decade or so, Jeep’s reputation took a hit from myriad recalls and poor service and support, eventually leading to a court-enforceable undertaking from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.

But Jeep Australia is also being dragged down in part by its parent’s poor decisions.

The mid-sized SUV segment is a huge one in markets like ours, as well as the much bigger US market. So what does Jeep do? It lets its Cherokee wither on the vine and then axes it without replacement.

The move away from diesel in Europe led Stellantis to slash its diesel offerings, which included the Grand Cherokee.

While that made little impact in the US market, it was bad news for Grand Cherokee buyers in Australia, where around 57 per cent of previous-generation (WK2) models sold were diesels.

We also never received turbo-diesel V6 versions of the Wrangler and Gladiator which could have broadened the appeal of those vehicles here.

These iconic vehicles are holding on largely due to the fact they have no real direct competition here but, as Chinese brands in particular roll out ever more rugged, boldly styled SUVs, it remains to be seen how dramatically sales of the Gladiator and Wrangler will dip.

Jeep has a new global CEO, Bob Broderdorf, who has acknowledged some of the mistakes the brand has made; he’s about to get a new boss too, with a replacement for Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares set to be announced imminently.

New leadership may well help Jeep turn things around, not just in Australia but also in markets like the US where sales have been falling for the past few years.

But for now, Jeep Australia sales are down, some of its dealers are spooked, one of its key models has been axed, and fresh product seems far away.

Pessimists would say at some point the brand’s downward sales trajectory simply won’t be sustainable, that the damage to the brand has been done by high prices and a spotty service record, and that the glut of brands in the Australian market will see weaker brands like Jeep perish.

Optimists would say Stellantis surely believes in Jeep’s future in our market if it green-lit the Avenger for Australia, and that giving Jeep dealers Leapmotor franchises will help keep them afloat.

Either way, Jeep remains one of the two most iconic SUV brands in the world, and Australians are obsessed with SUVs. The early-mid 2010s were an anomalous period for the brand, and now Jeep is back in more familiar territory, volume-wise.

It remains to be seen who is more correct, the optimists or the pessimists.