Grand Wagoneer Rumors Swell

It feels as if news about the upcoming Jeep Grand Wagoneer trickle out so slowly that it’s easy to forget Jeep has this ace up its sleeve. Besides recent rumors about there being a potential Trackhawk variant of the Grand Wagoneer, the last time we had any official mention of the upcoming vehicle was when Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) announced that the Grand Wagoneer was still happening, but plans had been delayed due to the retooling of the Warren Truck Assembly plant. So what’s new on the Grand Wagoneer news front? Spy photographers are convinced that they’ve spotted a Grand Wagoneer test mule disguised under a Ram 1500 body.

According to the photographers, a couple of key features indicate that the test mule is a Jeep and not a Ram. For starters, there are two big structural beam-like supports that connect the cabin of the supposed Grand Wagoneer to a shortened truck bed. Experts suspect that these beam-like supports are intended to simulate how a bigger body will react on the chassis. Additionally, insiders believe that this prototype also features a well-hidden rear suspension, and from what they witnessed they’re convinced it’s an independent setup. The Grand Wagoneer is expected to be a much larger and much more luxurious companion to the existing Grand Cherokee – which also features an independent suspension. It makes perfect sense that the Grand Wagoneer be engineered and assembled in a similar way to the brand’s top-tier model.

Another rumor that could have just picked up steam is that the Grand Wagoneer is expected to be closely related to the Ram 1500 as well. Spy photographers were interested by how the Ram body nearly fit this purported Grand Wagoneer like a glove without any major modifications other than the shortened bed. It’s likely that the Grand Wagoneer’s chassis will be the same exact one as the one on the Ram 1500. The Grand Wagoneer is even slated to be manufactured and assembled at the same plant as the latest generation Ram 1500. It makes perfect sense for the brand to manufacture very similar vehicles in the same facility.

As we’ve previously mentioned, rumors are always circulating about the Grand Wagoneer because the Jeep brand has been tight-lipped all along. The model is expected to be introduced sometime in 2020 with an official model launch scheduled for 2021 according to FCA’s five-year production plan. Previous spy shots have suggested that the Grand Wagoneer will look like a larger and more chiseled variant of the existing Grand Cherokee. If the Grand Wagoneer truly is based on the Ram 1500, then it’s likely that the two will also share powertrains. This sharing of powertrains means that the Grand Wagoneer can be expected to have at least a 3.6-liter V6 under its hood but a 5.7-liter HEMI V8 is also a possibility. Additionally, experts believe that the Grand Wagoneer will feature FCA’s eTorque hybrid assist system and the automaker’s latest eight-speed automatic transmission.

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Photo Source/Copyright: caranddriver.com

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