After spy shots and videos showed the camouflaged 2022 Jeep Grand Cherokee, Motor1 published more detailed renderings showing what the production car should look like. See any resemblance? This next-generation model will undoubtedly take on design cues from the larger Grand Wagoneer concept, but without quite so much bling at play.
At the front (click here to open a new tab showing Motor1‘s photos), the Grand Cherokee takes on the snub-nose styling that defines the Wagoneer, with a slight indentation in the seven-slotted grille as it meets the hood. New LED headlights integrate seamlessly into the grille by way of a chrome strip extending from one assembly to the other, down near the front bumper. The bumper itself has been redesigned to not only take on a more squared-off shape, but also integrate the sensors for FCA’s driver assistance systems. Another chrome strip sits above black plastic cladding, the latter of which extends all the way around the Grand Cherokee’s body. Unless FCA wants to incorporate that into the high-end Limited trim, this much chrome (there’s more along the roofline) seems a bit excessive. That said, we’ll see how the actual production model looks.
If you thought the Grand Wagoneer concept was also too bling-y, word has it FCA is toning it down with the production model, at least slightly.
Will we see a hybrid here?
Per Motor1, their consultation with “trusted sources” (who, naturally, are staying anonymous here) say this is a clear picture of how the SUV will look. What it does not share definitively is what will be used to power the 2022 Jeep Grand Cherokee. It’s the same question we face with the 2021 Jeep Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer. FCA’s 3.6-liter Pentastar V-6 will almost certainly make an appearance in some form. However, we’re less certain about the good old 5.7-liter Hemi V-8, as you can spec in the WK2 Grand Cherokee. That goes doubly for the bigger 6.4-liter in the SRT and the berserk, supercharged 6.2-liter in the Trackhawk. We may see a plug-in hybrid variant, if cues from the Grand Wagoneer and even the production Wrangler 4xe extend through the entire Jeep lineup (odds are it will).
Motor1‘s renderings show trapezoidal exhaust outlets here, so we’ll have to see exactly which engine feeds them when the official reveal comes. That should happen sometime later this year, as we continue to see Grand Cherokee prototypes running around the western U.S.
Bear in mind, the Grand Cherokee renderings are just that, and FCA of course isn’t throwing any official weight behind them yet. We should see a production model arrive sometime next year — likely after the Wagoneer — as we prepare to shift over into the 2022 model cycle. Stay tuned for more updates!
