The Jeep Grand Cherokee is a mid-size crossover utility vehicle sold under Fiat Chrysler’s rugged Jeep brand, and produced over four distinct generations. Where many crossovers currently on the market started life as truck-based body-on-frame SUVs, the Grand Cherokee has used a car-like unibody structure since its initial introduction for 1993, making it a bit of a trend-setter among similarly sized vehicles.
This has given Fiat Chrysler ample time to get the formula just right.
And so they have, apparently, as the Jeep Grand Cherokee continues to sell at an impressive clip, despite not having had a complete redesign since the 2011 model year. An all-new, fifth-generation model is reportedly on its way at last, but extracting maximum value (and time) from existing vehicle designs is something of a Fiat Chrysler specialty. Think of the Dodge Challenger, Charger, and Durango, all of which got their last redesign around the same time as the Grand Cherokee. Think also of the previous-generation Jeep Wrangler JK, which stuck around for over a decade without a redesign.
Alas, a seasoned, purpose-built Wrangler-like off-roader the Jeep Grand Cherokee is not. Like most Jeeps, the mid-size utility vehicle can in theory trudge through some moderately tricky stuff, but its true strengths are primarily expressed on the road: a softly sprung, quiet ride; an abundance of cabin space; and near-luxury-car levels of equipment content. There is an available Trailhawk model of the Grand Cherokee, ostensibly aimed at customers looking for more off-road acumen, but whether such examples are ever actually used in their intended manner with any frequency is questionable.
For the U.S. market, the Jeep Grand Cherokee is built at FCA’s Jefferson North Assembly Plant in Detroit, which has produced every generation of the mid-size crossover since the vehicle’s launch in 1992.