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2021 Jeep Grand Wagoneer not coming to Australia! Several factors force new Grand Cherokee L seven-seater to play similar role

The Grand Wagoneer concept from September last year is a taste of what is to come later in 2021 – just not in Australia.

Jeep’s reborn Grand Wagoneer upper-large SUV has officially been ruled out for Australia, with a right-hand-drive (RHD) version not currently available due to a lack of demand.

Speaking to Australian journalists last week, Jeep global president Christian Meunier confirmed the Grand Wagoneer won’t be sold locally, with another new seven-seater to make its presence felt instead from late this year.

“For now, it’s not on the table,” he said. “I think we will focus on the three-row Grand Cherokee, which is a pretty substantial, a pretty big SUV.

“I think we will cover some of the market with this product, that Grand Wagoneer potentially could’ve done.”

And while Mr Meunier was hopeful the situation would change, several key factors stand in way of RHD Grand Wagoneer production.

“It’s all about performance, it’s all about business cases. And obviously we’re reasonable people; I’d love to do it,” he said.

“I’m sure it could do very well in Australia, but let’s focus on what really matters for the market for now.”

Mr Meunier added “we pretty have everything in the portfolio”, with the locally axed Renegade small SUV and Chinese-market Grand Commander large SUV the only other models not sold in Australia.

“Obviously, Grand Wagoneer is a little bit the exception because of the size of the product and the potential, which is really hard to justify because the other right-hand-drive markets are not really interested,” he said.

“There’s no market for that product in Tokyo, you can imagine, or in London, so it makes it extremely hard to justify.”

For reference, the Grand Wagoneer shares its body-on-frame platform with the Ram 1500 pick-up truck, which also cannot be had in RHD, although it is ‘remanufactured’ in Australia and sold locally and in New Zealand.

Justin Hilliard
Head of Editorial
Justin’s dad chose to miss his birth because he wanted to watch Peter Brock hopefully win Bathurst, so it figures Justin grew up to have a car obsession, too – and don’t worry, his dad did turn up in time after some stern words from his mum. That said, despite loving cars and writing, Justin chose to pursue career paths that didn’t lend themselves to automotive journalism, before eventually ending up working as a computer technician. But that car itch just couldn’t be scratched by his chipped Volkswagen Golf R (Mk7), so he finally decided to give into the inevitable and study a Master of Journalism at the same time. And even with the long odds, Justin was lucky enough to land a full-time job as a motoring journalist soon after graduating and the rest, as they say, is history. These days, Justin happily finds himself working at CarsGuide during the biggest period of change yet for the automotive industry, which is perhaps the most exciting part of all. In case you’re wondering, Justin begrudgingly sold the Golf R (sans chip) and still has plans to buy his dream car, an E46 BMW M3 coupe (manual, of course), but he is in desperate need of a second car space – or maybe a third.
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