The Jeep Grand Wagoneer Concept debuted yesterday to the usual concept car reception of some people saying that they hate it, others saying they didn’t, and still others assessing it as, “fine.” More interesting to me, however, is the price, because this thing is gonna be expensive.
According to Car and Driver, they will start around $60,000 and ramp all the way up to over $100,000, which is Cadillac Escalade-level money to pay for an SUV. And within that range I’m sure, like Fiat Chrysler does with all of its brands, there will be roughly 13 million trims between $60,000 and the $100,000+ but, man, six figures for a Jeep feels like it should be illegal.
For context, here’s the base price for new Jeeps currently on offer now. The Grand Wagoneer’s base price will a little less than double then highest current Jeep base.
Now, it’s worth noting that the base price for a 1988 Grand Wagoneer, to take a random example, was $24,623, or about $55,141 in today’s dollars, and so it’s not like the new Grand Wagoneer’s base price is too out of line, historically speaking. It was advertised back then as being the classiest SUV available, and it pretty much was, with an expensive price to boot.
But that was back then. In the 2020s, buyers in the segment have a lot more choice, and the new Jeep Grand Wagoneer will have to compete with numerous big luxury SUVs that can lay claim to the title of being among the classiest, including the Cadillac Escalade, the Lincoln Navigator, Mercedes GLS, BMW X7, Volvo XC90, Range Rover, and Audi Q7.
Which means that while obviously there is a healthy market for big luxury SUVs, the question is whether the Jeep Grand Wagoneer can compete with the big boys who have been doing luxury for a lot longer. To be clear: I have no doubt that there are plenty of people out there willing to buy a Jeep Grand Wagoneer that costs over $100,000. My question is: Would you?
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