Early reveal for Jeep's new
Land Rover Freelander rival, following a leak online. This is the new
Jeep Cherokee, the first all-new Jeep to be born out of the Fiat-Chrysler alliance. The model will be seen in the public for the first time at the New York motor show later next month, before going on sale in the autumn.
Jeep released these first official pictures of the car following a leak online late last week. The new model will replace the Liberty and marks a return for the Cherokee name in the Jeep line-up for the first time since 2001.
Confirmed details on the model are scarce ahead of New York, but Jeep has said the
Land Rover Freelander rival will offer fuel economy improvements of 45 per cent compared to the Liberty, exemplary on-road performance, and Jeeps Trail-Rated off-road ability.
The new Cherokee is underpinned by Fiats Compact Wide platform, an enlarged version of the Alfa Romeo Giuliettas architecture that is found currently beneath the US-market Dodge Dart.
Front- and all-wheel-drive versions of the car will be offered. The Cherokee will be one of the initial Fiat-Chrysler cars to be offered with ZFs new nine-speed automatic gearbox.
The four-cylinder 2. 0-litre Tigershark engines from the Dart will be offered with the Cherokee, and its possible the Giuliettas turbocharged 1. 4-litre MultiAir unit could be offered as a fuel-efficient base engine. A 3. 2-litre petrol V6 is unlikely to make it to Europe, but a predicted 2. 0-litre JTDm turbodiesel from the Giulietta should be the best-seller in Europe.
The styling is evolved from the recently revised Grand Cherokee model, featuring slim headlights and a slimmer version of Jeeps seven-bar front grille.