Jeep Cherokee Trailhawk axed, SUV vary minimize to 1 mannequin

SUV model Jeep is now fielding a single variant in Australia’s hottest SUV phase, slashing its Cherokee vary to a single S-Restricted trim.

After dropping the bottom, four-cylinder Sport for 2022, Jeep has axed the Restricted and Trailhawk and left the S-Restricted, priced at $56,950 earlier than on-road prices following a $3500 worth hike earlier this yr.

We’ve contacted Jeep Australia to verify why the Restricted and Trailhawk have been axed, contemplating they’re nonetheless accessible within the US, and if there will probably be any additional adjustments to the Cherokee for 2023.

The medium SUV phase was the second largest by quantity in Australia final yr, however there’s no imminent alternative for the slow-selling Cherokee.

It’s anticipated to get replaced by a brand new mannequin with an accessible electrical powertrain earlier than 2025, prone to be positioned as a extra mainstream various to the upcoming rugged Recon and opulent Wagoneer S. Each of those are mid-sized electrical SUVs.

The Trailhawk variant was one of many two distinctive promoting factors for the ageing Cherokee, being because it was a devoted, off-road variant of a mid-sized unibody crossover when no different such fashions existed. It featured a two-speed switch case and a locking rear differential.

The opposite distinctive promoting level for the Cherokee is its V6 engine. Whereas nameplates just like the Ford Escape, Kia Sportage and Toyota RAV4 have traditionally supplied V6s, the Cherokee is now the final mannequin standing with such an engine on this phase.

Whereas the smaller Compass is priced up towards some mid-sized SUVs, it’s nonetheless categorized as a small SUV. It’s sized equally to a Kia Seltos.

Jeep has acknowledged the present KL Cherokee, which first entered manufacturing in 2013 and was final up to date in 2018, is in want of alternative.

“That retains me up at night time and that product clearly is… getting smaller and smaller in quantity, and we are saying that the present product is getting much less and fewer aggressive within the very aggressive phase,” Jeep CEO Christian Meunier advised CarExpert earlier this yr, noting the mid-sized SUV phase is the most important on this planet.

It’s already been phased out in Europe as Jeep trims its vary of un-electrified fashions there.

Final yr, Jeep bought simply 382 Cherokees in Australia. The one mid-sized SUVs it outsold had been the Citroen C5 Aircross (58 gross sales), Peugeot 5008 (189) and SsangYong Korando (353).

That’s a far cry from the figures it posted earlier in its lifecycle.

In 2015, Jeep bought 6156 Cherokees, outselling the likes of the Ford Kuga, Holden Captiva 5 and Suzuki Grand Vitara, if not fairly posing a menace to stalwarts just like the Toyota RAV4.

Quantity then fell massively to 2079 gross sales in 2016, with gross sales sliding step by step thereafter.

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