Grand Wagoneer

Make
Jeep
Segment
SUV

The Jeep Grand Wagoneer was revealed in March last year, and ever since, the most pertinent stories about the luxury SUV have all been about its price. If we're not talking about the fact that a fully-loaded model cost $112,000 when it first came out, without any dealer markups, then its fuel bill has certainly got us complaining. A few months ago, both variants of the SUV received a price hike, and in Europe, you can buy an Aston Martin DBX for the same money. Despite this, this Stellantis sees an opportunity to charge customers even more and is currently developing a long-wheelbase model.

According to Automotive News, this new model is being developed as an answer to Cadillac's Escalade ESV, along with the longer versions of the Chevy Suburban, GMC Yukon, and Lincoln Navigator. Doug Moreland, owner of Fort Collins Jeep in Colorada and other dealers in Nevada and Wyoming, says that the Colorado market specifically looks for bigger vehicles. "Out here, there are a lot of Suburbans, Denali XLs," explains Moreland. "People drive them because they love that extra room in the back. They haul stuff up the mountains: skis, camping gear."

Of course, when speaking with corporate head office, no confirmation of the lengthened variants would be given, but spy shots have already captured prototypes, so we know it's coming.

But why bring out a new gas guzzler when everybody is switching to EVs? Simple - not everybody wants an EV yet. Senior manager of insights for Edmunds, Ivan Drury, explains why he thinks it's a good idea: "You've got to make hay while the sun is shining because there is limited time on how long these ICE motors are going to be around, how much people's appetites for humongous SUVs will live on - and it's not going to be forever. You'll probably have to transition these things over to EV at some point, but as it stands, the market is just on fire. This vehicle type is seen as the crown jewel for almost every automaker."

So there you have it. Despite so many reports of the uptake of EVs, we all know that it will be a long time before people are fully convinced, and until then, the American public loves spending big on the largest, most luxurious land yachts out there.