Automotive News Canada - September 2020 - 5

* S E P T E M B E R 2020

MASTER OF

UNDERSTATEMENT
Is there a market in
Canada for a truck-based
Jeep costing $100,000?
By DOUG FIRBY

CALGARY CORRESPONDENT

THE PREMIUM, FULL-SIZE JEEP
Grand Wagoneer is an SUV that will
appeal to Canadian buyers and fill
a gap in Fiat Chrysler Automobiles'
(FCA) lineup when it reaches the market in mid-2021, dealers, analysts and
company executives say.
The Grand
Wagoneer's understated look reflects
Canadians' humble,
no-nonsense values, Ralph Gilles,
FCA's head of global
design, said during
a recent media briefing on the vehicle.
"Honestly, I
Fiorani: The
think Canadians
customer base
have good taste,"
for a $100,000
said Gilles, who was Jeep in Canada
born in New York
might be thin,
City but grew up in
but there will
Montreal. "They're
be many more
very humble peobuyers in the
ple, for the most
$70,000 to
part. The design was $80,000 range.
meant to be underFILE PHOTO
stated and really
look good for years and years to come.
"That speaks to Canadian values
... straightforward, no-nonsense, just
a damn well-built machine," he said,
adding that the 4x4 capability is a
strong draw in Canada.
Jeep has not announced pricing
for its new three-row SUV, but Chris
Meunier, global president of the Jeep
Brand, has said its sibling Wagoneer, a
lower trim-version of the vehicle, will
start around US $60,000, while a fully
loaded Grand Wagoneer will exceed US
$100,000.
Canadian buyers' preferences
are nuanced, said auto analyst Sam

The Grand Wagoneer's clean
lines reflect Canadians' modest,
no-nonsense values, said
Fiat Chrysler Global Design Chief
Ralph Gilles. P H O T O : F C A

Fiorani, head of global vehicle forecasting for AutoForecast Solutions.
Canadians tend to value a vehicle's
utility more than Americans do, so the
Grand Wagoneer should fare well in
this country, he said.

AT LAST, PREMIUM PRODUCT
Jeep dealers interviewed by
Automotive News Canada agree.
Logan Murray, general sales manager for Murray Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep,
in Okotoks, Alta., said the Wagoneer
will fill a gap in FCA's product lineup:
a luxurious seven-passenger SUV that
can compete with the Chevrolet Tahoe,
Ford Expedition and, in the Grand
Wagoneer trim level, even the Cadillac
Escalade.
"We don't have anything in that segment," said Murray, whose dealership
is part of the 35-rooftop Murray Auto
Group.
"We have the [Dodge] Durango,
but it just doesn't compete. It doesn't
attract enough buyers. It's too expensive for what it is."
Rob Coleman, general manager of
Big 4 Motors Ltd. in Calgary, said the
Wagoneer adds a "marquee brand" that
has been missing since the old model
was discontinued in 1991.
"This will be an elegant Jeep. We
need to have an elegant level. I think
the interior will be a new level for an
SUV."
Fiorani said FCA is smart to offer
a premium Jeep because they tend to
have high profit margins.
Noting that Cadillac, Lincoln and
Land Rover are doing "just fine" in
the high-end SUV market, Fiorani said
Jeep might find only a small number
of buyers willing to pay $100,000, but
$70,000 to $80,000 is a more likely sweet
spot.

There's no pricing for Canada yet,
although the fully loaded Grand
Wagoneer in the United States will
exceed US $100,000, according to
Jeep. The vehicle will be based on
the Ram 1500 platform. P H O T O : F C A

first-generation Wagoneer.
When the new concept vehicle was
unveiled in late August, company executives said the production versions
will have a plug-in
hybrid as one of the
powertrain options.
The full range has
not been released,
but an FCA spokesman told Automotive
News Canada that
there will be shortColeman: The
and long-wheelbase
Wagoneer adds versions of both the
a "marquee
Wagoneer and the
brand" to the
Grand Wagoneer.
Jeep lineup.
Both are based on
PHOTO VIA ROB
the Ram 1500 pickup
COLEMAN
platform.
"The Wagoneer signifies incremental space for Jeep," said Morrison,
"A new arm of luxury where we can
experiment with a flagship type of
dynamic, where we can do things that
we probably couldn't justify on a regular Jeep."

SOMETHING OLD, EVERYTHING NEW

RESPECTFUL, NOT RETRO

The Wagoneer represents a dramatic new direction for the Jeep brand,
which has built its name on its off-road
chops. Jim Morrison, head of the Jeep
brand in North America, said it's a
return to the philosophy that drove the

The Grand Wagoneer was considered the first luxury SUV when
it debuted under the ownership of
American Motors Corp. in 1984.
In his book entitled Jeep, Minnesotabased automotive writer Steve Stathem

wrote that the Wagoneer's luxury
made it unique. Its utility was combined with luxury features such as
15-inch alloy wheels, premium AM/
FM/cassette audio, air conditioning,
power front seats, leather-wrapped
steering wheel and leather seat surfaces.
The new Wagoneer pays homage
to the old model but is modern in both
style and function, said Meunier.
"We didn't go the retro route.
"People asked: 'Why didn't you give
us the fake wood on the panels?"
But the expectations of the premium customer in the large-SUV segment are very different from what
they were in 1970, he said, adding
that the aim was to translate what
was leading edge 50 years ago into the
equivalent today.
Production of the Grand Wagoneer
and Wagoneer will start in the second quarter of 2021 at FCA's Warren,
Mich., truck plant in suburban
Detroit. - ANC

THREE'S COMPANY
Sales examples of vehicles
with three rows of seats in
2019 in Canada:
*

Land Rover Discovery,
Discovery Sport, Range Rover
Sport: 4,968

Chevy Tahoe: 4,147

Ford Expedition: 4,260

Cadillac Escalade
and Escalade ESV: 2,416

Mercedes-Benz GL (now GLS):
1,947

Lincoln Navigator: 1,644

Infiniti QX80: 935
Source: Automotive News Data Center

Automotive News Canada - September 2020

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