I think the new Grand Cherokee will be larger, with more room inside, and an optional third row of seats. It needs to compete with car-like SUVs such as the Chevy Traverse and Buick Enclave. Ford's next Explorer will abandon the truck body on frame construction to be more car-like, too.
These new vehicles are like minivans with raised ride height. Honda has shown with the Pilot SUV (a variation of the Odyssey minivan platform) that most SUV shoppers choose comfort and clever design over rough road competence. If you want a vehicle to take a group to the hunting cabin, you'll need to buy a four door pickup.
I won't be surprised if Jeep lets go of the "trail rated" badge for the Grand. Jeep has the 4-door Wrangler for buyers who want a vehicle to take off-road. Once there is no confusion about which vehicle Jeep is selling as the top of the line off-road model, the Wrangler can be sold with more powerful engines.
What Chrysler needs is a direct injected turbo gas V6 like Ford is developing. Ford's Ecoboost V6 produces 340 ft-lbs of torque, more than Ford's 4.6L V8, and still has fuel economy like a six cylinder normally aspirated engine.
Chip Haven
