The updated 2017 Jeep Grand Cherokee Trailhawk, if you caught it, was revealed in Las Vegas this week and there you could hear an info that was kinda strange. Apparently, the 3.0-liter turbo diesel engine has been confirmed and is ready to be delivered to Australia, but the faith of the petrol unit in this vehicle is still uncertain. At this point, it is already known that the new Grand Cherokee will arrive at the Australian dealerships sometime in the first quarter of 2017 or early in the second quarter of the same year.
Read about: 2018 Jeep Wrangler
The faith of a petrol unit in the 2017 Trailhawk is pretty much sealed with the statement from Lucy McLellan, director of corporate communications for Fiat Chrysler Australia to CarAdvice, where she said that the chances for a petrol unit rolling around Australia are slim to none. On that occasion, we could hear “At this stage, we think the diesel engine is the only engine we’ll take in Australia”, and added, “That’s not confirmed, though, but we believe the diesel engine makes the most sense for Australia”. Well, this is in a way totally right because the Trailhawk is built and marketed as an off-road 4WD vehicle, and the diesel option in this case actually does make the most sense when Australia is in question. Most Aussie off-roaders that want to explore remote areas tend to switch to diesel powerplants because they are durable, tougher and offer more torque in the rpm range.
All of the Jeep enthusiasts probably know that the company previously offered the Summit Platinum grade as the top trim Grand Cherokee model, which was in a way a special edition of that model. Well, now that trim level will be called Summit, while the Trailhawk is added to what seems to be an expanded range. With that said the Jeep fleet, at least in Australia will be comprised of Laredo, Limited, Overland, Trailhawk, Summit and SRT grades. This was partly done to try to reverse the downfall of the Grand Cherokee in Down Under, and whether this will work, we will see. McLellan says that “It’s not one single factor”, and adds “Refreshed product, a refreshed approach to sales and marketing and most importantly customer service, will assist in turning around the recent downward trend in Grand Cherokee sales”. We sincerely hope that it will be so.
