Is FCA Stretching Out the 2018 Jeep Cherokee? Prototypes Spied in the Wild [Spy Photos]

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2018 Jeep Cherokee prototypes (by William H.)

TFLcar reader William H. spotted this fleet of camouflaged Jeep Cherokees driving along I-75 in Findlay, Ohio, just south of Jeep’s home of Toledo. What’s interesting is that only the rear is disguised; the front end is clearly a Cherokee.

Upon closer inspection, it looks as though the whole car is stretched, which would indicate that these are potentially three-row Cherokees. This makes sense, as Honda is planning the next CR-V to be a three-row crossover and the Mitsubishi Outlander already is.

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So is the aging Dodge Journey, which might indicate that the new three-row Cherokee is the Journey’s replacement. FCA wants the Dodge brand to be a performance-only brand, which is evident as they have discontinued staples like the Dodge Caravan, so potentially moving their three-row compact crossover entry into the Jeep brand makes a lot of sense.

William also said that he noticed an exorbitant amount of electronics and wiring in the test mules – more than is typical in a prototype – and he also noticed that there were extra LEDs that lit up as the cars changed lanes. These long Cherokees may also be testing some sort of autonomous technology like adaptive cruise control or automatic lane keeping.

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Photo by William H.

Jeep has been the lone bright spot at Fiat-Chrysler as the other brands have seen sales fall while Jeeps continue to roll out of dealer lots at a record pace. There are already plans for a mid-level crossover in between the Renegade and Cherokee and a new Grand Wagoneer that would be a replacement for the three-row Dodge Durango, so having yet another offering would make Jeep a full-market brand, from subcompact crossovers all the way up to three-row large SUVs.

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Photo by William H.

What do you think of the extra-long Cherokee prototypes? Start the conversation in the comments below.

Check out this TFLcar off-road video of the 2016 Jeep Grand Cherokee EcoDiesel taking on Gold Mine Hill: