New Jeep Wrangler Could be the Best One Yet
Let’s not kid ourselves, while people might have grown to develop a deeper appreciation for the Jeep brand with the introduction of new vehicles, the Wrangler is still very much the king of the nameplate.
Not even the high-powered SRT Grand Cherokee, which is impressive in its own right, holds up to the status of the Wrangler as a Jeep – and frankly, it shouldn’t.
The Wrangler has and always will represent the core of everything that encompasses Jeep, just as the 911 does for the Porsche brand. That said, anytime Jeep announces that the Wrangler will undergo any kind of design change, it’s big news.
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The new Wrangler, noted at a recent Fiat Chrysler Automobiles press conference, will be part of an aggressive new Jeep product strategy rolling into 2016, when the brand celebrates its 75th Anniversary.
In addition to the Wrangler, the new Jeep lineup will also include an updated Cherokee and an all-new three-row Jeep Grand Wagoneer as the Patriot and Compass prepare for phase-out. The new Wrangler is set to debut in 2017, replacing the current JK platform (pictured below), which was introduced in 2007.
The new Renegade is being touted as the cornerstone of Jeep’s new global strategy, but the iconic status of the brand will still rest mostly on the new Wrangler.
Details on the new Wrangler are fairly sketchy at this point, other than talk it could possibly be all aluminum as we reported earlier this week. Either way, I fully expect the new model to be one of the best Wranglers ever.
Why? One, it will represent a complete evolution of the iconic SUV on every level, especially when it comes to performance and technology. Over the past few years, Jeep has made significant strides in these areas, and I fully expect the Wrangler to encompass that on a completely new level.
Two, Jeep has proven that even when the company has taken risks with the Wrangler amid heated criticism, the results can be quite impressive. The success of the four-door Unlimited model is major proof of that, which a lot of people were initially skeptical of when first introduced.
In fact, as a long-time Wrangler fan and owner of a 2009 model, I’m looking forward to more of that out-of-the-box thinking as long as it stays true to the core essence of brand.