- Chrysler on Thursday said it will build a diesel version of the Jeep Grand Cherokee for North America next year.
- The diesel Jeep will be built at the automaker's Jefferson North Assembly Plant in Detroit.
- Pricing and specifications on the diesel Jeep have not been released.
AUBURN HILLS, Michigan — Chrysler on Thursday said it will build a diesel version of the Jeep Grand Cherokee for North America next year.
The diesel Jeep will be built at the automaker's Jefferson North Assembly Plant in Detroit.
Pricing and specifications on the diesel Jeep have not been released.
"It is in the Motor City, home of our industrial heritage and a resilient people, that we are entrusting the manufacture not only of the ultimate American sports car, the SRT Viper, and the Jeep Grand Cherokee — the most awarded SUV ever — but also a diesel version of the Jeep Grand Cherokee for North American markets," said Sergio Marchionne, Chrysler Group chairman and CEO in a statement.
Chrysler will add another 1,100 workers at the Detroit plant to build the diesel Jeep and to boost production of the Grand Cherokee and the Dodge Durango.
The automaker said it will also reopen its Conner Avenue plant in Detroit to build the 2013 SRT Viper. Chrysler will hire about 150 workers for Conner Avenue.
Chrysler made a short-lived version of the diesel Liberty in the U.S. in 2005 and 2006.
The AAA Daily Fuel Gauge on Friday reported that the average price for a gallon of diesel fuel stood at $3.84 versus $3.35 for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline.
Inside Line says: Will American buyers embrace a diesel version of the popular Jeep Grand Cherokee?
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vwking says:
03:58 AM, 02/07/2012
Can't afford the German SUVs. This sounds very attractive.
rjsalive says:
03:47 PM, 01/29/2012
Americans will only embrace the new diesel version of the popular Jeep Grand Cherokee if the quality of the diesel engine is as good as its Mercedes counterpart. The quality MUST be there. Sounds great on paper and I love the idea...but, I don't want to pay $50K and have problems.
colorado1974 says:
10:57 AM, 01/07/2012
While they trump the highway mileage in their respective class. They match the city mileage on those same comparable vehicles.
What's next @openeyes, your favorite color?
openeyes1 says:
09:33 AM, 01/07/2012
@colorado1974; You keep bringing up highway mileage for Chrysler, as an example of how fuel efficient the company is, the problem here is that most Americans spend their time driving in the city mode than highway mode. Great figures like 31 MPG or 29 MPG on the highway are good to have, but turn those in to city numbers, and that would be a vast improvement for Chrysler. When the CAFE numbers are set in stone, Chrysler is going to come crying back to the Federal Government claiming that CAFE numbers are impossible for them to obtain. The simply solution for them is to embrace what vehicles Fiat has already in their pipeline, improve upon it (which they have the talent to do), and get these vehicles on the market ASAP.
The new Dodge Dart, if what you claim holds true as far as combined MPG, would be a giant leap forward for Chrysler. Now if they can launch that "Baby" Ram Pickup that they had talked about earlier, they could get off to a great start at raising their CAFE averages.
colorado1974 says:
09:41 PM, 01/06/2012
@300guy: huh. I only keep finding stuff like this: While other automakers brag about building cars capable of achieving up to 40 miles per gallon in highway fuel economy, Chrysler is reporting that its new Dodge Dart sedan has achieved 40 mpg in combined fuel economy testing. As John Voelcker points out on Green Car Reports, 40 mpg combined is higher than any combined rating for a compact or subcompact gasoline vehicle to date...
so I guess maybe in your world it will be different then. In our world, I'll guess that we'll take the EPA at their word when they say combined.
superm says:
06:39 PM, 01/06/2012
I'm glad to see reference made to the short-lived MB diesel in the last gen GC. It did exist, but was extraordinarily rare. Two problems: 1) It was a *$4k* option and 2) they sold so few the Dodge/Jeep dealers don't know what the heck to do with them. Kinda the same story with the Crossfire, which was a re-skinned first generation MB SLK.
As a $4k option the diesel engine doesn't make sense. Wonder what the plan is this time???
300zxguy says:
02:15 PM, 01/06/2012
@colorado1974: that claimed 40mpg combined is on a different scale than what will appear on the EPA window sticker, so in reality the combined mileage will be much lower, with the hwy number probably very close to 40. (you can search to find the details, but this has been widely reported).
hubblehornz66 says:
01:05 PM, 01/06/2012
This will sell...really....well
colorado1974 says:
12:47 PM, 01/06/2012
Openeyes: Um, Chrysler leads their respective classes in fuel economy.
Sure, they don't have a small compact car yet but the COMBINED 40 mpg the Dart was just certified for will erase that. At 8 mpg higher than a civic, it will kill the competition.
31 mpg 300 verus a 29 mpg camry.
23mpg grand cherokee vs a 22 mpg pilot.
wjtinatl says:
11:48 AM, 01/06/2012
Hoping 2 things; Bring the diesel in at no price premium over the Hemi (currently $1500) and make the diesel available in the Durango as well for us who need/want 3rd row seating. That will save me almost 30 grand over the GL320CDI that I covet!