The 2022 Jeep Grand Wagoneer Will Debut On September 3 — Complete With Retro-Styled Grille

Friday gave us another shot in a long line of 2022 Jeep Grand Wagoneer teasers. Say what you want about FCA, but the company (and the Jeep brand, specifically) does keep the pressure on when it comes to building hype around its upcoming models. The “Grand” teaser a couple weeks ago, followed by a shot of the door badge and a nostalgia trip earlier this week, it was already clear the big reveal is coming soon.

And then Jeep dropped the actual reveal date — September 3.

Once again, the brand’s social media account dropped one nondescript image and a less subtle teaser as to what’s coming. A shot of a bedazzled rotary knob doesn’t show us much, so let’s focus on the grille photo above.

While we’ve seen the “Grand Commander” roaming U.S. streets, we never believed that Jeep would wholesale take a Chinese-market model and just rebadge it over here, at least not without some serious visual modifications. Fortunately, this retro-styled seven-slotted grille shows FCA aims to instill the Grand Wagoneer with some old-school character. The chrome surround on this grille is another classic decision. Not only is it a nice retro touch, but it also positions Jeep’s new flagship as more of a luxury contender, which we fully expect it will be when it debuts two weeks from now.

Alongside a glitzy Grand Wagoneer, the general consensus is that a standard “Wagoneer” will also launch as more of an entry-level model. That way people can get a three-row family SUV, without paying up to $100,000 for the full-on luxury version. Jeep’s chief competitors in that space, including the Lincoln Navigator and Cadillac Escalade, employ similar strategies. Lincoln has the “Black Label” super-luxe models while Cadillac uses a “Platinum” designation for its top-end trims. All the while, the entry models carry about a $25,000 lower buy-in.

The Wagoneer should be a full-size, body-on-frame SUV

As for powertrain and chassis expectations, we expect the 2022 Jeep Grand Wagoneer to largely follow the Ram 1500 truck. It should be a body-on-frame design rather than a large crossover (again, mirroring its rivals). The 3.6-liter Pentastar’s appearance here is a likely possibility, as is the 5.7-liter Hemi V8. However, FCA could also move in another direction with plug-in hybrid variants or use this opportunity to introduce an all-new engine to the fold.

Fortunately, we’ll know more about that soon. The smaller 2022 Jeep Grand Cherokee is also on the horizon. If your budget or needs don’t extend to Jeep’s new flagship — mind you, we may not know pricing for several more months — the Grand Cherokee will be less expensive and should also house three rows, if what we’ve seen so far is accurate.

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