Jeep New Zealand will have three new products in its line-up in 2018 including an all-new Compass, the trail blazing Wrangler and the “most powerful production SUV in the world”.
Revealed yesterday in Melbourne, at what the Jeep Australia and NZ said was its biggest “event ever”, the new Compass, Wrangler and V8 Grand Cherokee were shown to the motoring reporters, Australian social media ‘influencers” and lifestyle media.
Attending the launch from Jeep’s Detroit headquarters was the Compass chief engineer Audrey Moore (see Driven’s exclusive interview on Saturday) and chief designer Chris Piscitelli.
The preproduction Wrangler had just finished testing in New Zealand and goes on sale late next year while the Compass and V8 Grand Cherokee are on the market now.
The Grand Cherokee Trackhawk (above) is powered by a supercharged Hemi 6.2-litre, V8 engine producing 527kW of power and 874Nm of torque.
Jeep says the Trackhawk is the quickest and most powerful production SUV “on the planet”.
Jeep NZ’s CEO, David Smitherman, said there was already a “significant amount of interest” in the Trackhawk.
The company is still to reveal the price of it but said that it probably wouldn’t be able to get enough of the Trackhawk to satisfy Kiwi demand.
But Jeep NZ is confident it will have enough Compass (bellow) models as the SUV goes on sale in the highly competitive medium C-segment crossover segment.
It will have three models, all powered by a 2.4-litre petrol Tigershark engine producing 129kW of power and 229Nm of torque.
Prices start at $39,990 for the front wheel drive Longitude that is paired with a six-speed automatic transmission.
The Limited is priced from $49,990 for the four-wheel-drive, nine-speed and the Trailhawk is $5000 more.
Jeep NZ expected customers would step up to the Trailhawk that delivers best-in- class off-road capability, courtesy the advanced Jeep Active Drive Low 4x4 system.
The Compass had two winter proving ground sessions in New Zealand, overseen by Moore, while the preproduction Wrangler has just undergone off-roading testing before being trialled in Australia for its tough off-road conditions.
