The LA Auto Show is a cornucopia of new product announcements, and the latest automaker we’ve heard from is Stellantis. As covered by Automotive News, the hot news is that Jeep will be bringing a new hybrid to market in 2025.
Jeep CEO Antonio Filosa confirmed the new model, stating the utility vehicle would serve as a replacement for the Cherokee. Production of the long-running crossover ended in 2023, which saw Jeep’s Belvidere Assembly plant in Illinois idled. The nameplate left the market after 49 consecutive model years in production.
It’s not the first we’ve heard of this model. Indeed, Filosa mentioned it back in May this year, noting the brand would develop a mainstream midsize replacement to fill the gap left by the departing Cherokee. It’s obvious that Jeep is eager to improve its coverage across different market segments, but the question is— where is this new model coming from?
Hm!
We’re told the new model will be a hybrid, but not a plug-in model. That will stand it apart from models like the Jeep Wrangler 4xe, which is the best selling plug-in hybrid in the country. Comments from Filosa in May noted that the vehicle’s platform would allow for an EV version down the line if so desired. That comment gives us a key clue. This is because the STLA Medium and Large platforms have both been cited as capable of being used in both conventionally powered and electric vehicles.
As a midsizer, we could speculate that this is probably going to end up on the STLA Medium platform. However, speaking to Automotive News earlier this year, AutoForecast Solutions noted it expected the model to be built in Mexico on the STLA Large platform instead. Additionally, as pointed out in the comments, Stellantis already announced STLA Medium will be used to underpin a new Jeep Compass that’ll be built in Canada and look like this:
That gives credence to the STLA Large concept, but let’s explore both eventualities.
It’s possible that Jeep is going with an all-original model, but it’s perhaps unlikely. The fact is, we haven’t heard a whole lot about this model up until now, and it’s apparently less than a year away from going on sale. If Jeep was going with a standalone, original design, we’d have expected to have seen some spy shots by now of mules out in the wild.
It seems more likely that Jeep will instead retool an existing model from the broader Stellantis stable. Examining the Stellantis lineup, there are a few possibilities.
When it comes to the STLA Medium platform, Peugeot currently has the 3008 SUV. It’s available as both a mild hybrid, a plug-in hybrid, and an EV, with the latter referred to as the e-3008. The larger Peugeot 5008 follows the same brief on the same platform, with similar drivetrain options. Then there’s the Vauxhall/Opel Grandland, another twist on the format with a unique design inside and out, but largely the same underpinnings.
It would be pretty straightforward for Jeep to grab one of these models and retool it a little to create a Cherokee replacement for the American market. Stellantis has form in this area, such as when it turned the Alfa Romeo Tonale into the troubled Dodge Hornet. That vehicle, based on the aging FCA Small Wide platform, has been relatively unsuccessful in the US and isn’t really relevant to Jeep’s goals.
We had The Bishop whip up a quick concept image of a rebadged Peugeot 3008. It takes to the seven-slot grille pretty well, if you ask me, and it looks muscular and modern enough to win some buyers over. As for the practicality of such a move, that’s an open question. Currently, the Opel and Peugeot offerings on the STLA Medium platform are built in France and Germany. One would suspect Jeep would want to build its new hybrid domestically, especially given geopolitical realities, though it’s not a given.
But what about STLA Large? The longitudinal engine version of that platform will underpin the Dodge Charger, as well as the new Alfa Romeo Stelvio and Giulia and the Maserate Levante. It seems unlikely that this platform would be suitable for a mainstream Cherokee replacement; the transverse STLA Large platform would seem more likely. Jeep already has the Wagoneer S and full-EV Recon designated to use that platform.
However, there’s not really anything Cherokee-like that already exists on STLA Large. It’s possible that Jeep has something ready to go. Somehow, though, a cheaper rebrand of an existing STLA Medium vehicle, like the Peugeot 3008, seems more likely. Will it wear the Cherokee name? It seems likely. When discussing the new model earlier this year, Filosa told the media they “could probably guess what it would be called.”
In any case, we won’t have long to wait. 2025 is just weeks away at this point, and Jeep is champing at the bit to get back into the compact SUV segment vacated by the Cherokee. When the news drops, we’ll have all the gossip on the new Jeep hybrid. Same car time, same car channel.
Image credits: Jeep, Stellantis, Peugeot, Opel
With the possibility of an EV Cherokee, we should start to think about names! My three suggestions are:
E- Cherokee, pronounced in one, with no breaks, (echerokee)
Cherok-E, beautifully incorporating the telling “E” letter
Or, of course, Cherokee E, this one is great because you can decide how many “e”s you want to pronounce! I.e. Cherokeeeeeee!
I have no confidence Stellantis will put out a good product. For example, their bread and butter Grand Cherokee. I would take a look at a trail rated Laredo. N/A. No limited slip options, no off road tire/suspension packages. In fact, I couldn’t find any of those options all the way up the line to Summit. Their products have become inauthentic and they are not “dancing with what brung them,” as people used to say.
If the base models number starts with a “4”…..they’ve lost the clue.
To me it’s pretty much game over for Stellantis (or what ever they are called this week) in North America. They milked the Hemi as long as they could. They screwed over all their clients since Covid.
At this point you have to have something wrong in your head to buy anything from them, but with the vote going the way it just did, they just might live on in USA.
If they came out with a slew of new, interesting, decently priced and reliable products, they could make it. Like their 1990’s renaissance. Sadly with each passing month/quarter/year I am losing faith in this happening.
What’s funny about the 90s renaissance is it was mainly AMC designers and engineers who made that happen. They were experts at making popular cars with nearly zero resources, and once given a chance they were downright brilliant.
“We keep sending rebadged Fiats/Alfas and nobody is buying them. We plan to turn this around by shipping more rebadged Fiats and Alfas”
Best of luck to anyone buying an extra mechanically complex Stallantis. I hope your dealer has a great coffee machine.
I mean I know they are dumb but certainly they are not dumb enough to look at all the success of the angles of the TRD trim toyotas and bring something like this curvy turd to market.
More muscular squared off fenders, more contrast plastic cladding is my guess.
Why photoshop the old 3008? Anyways, seems much more likely it’ll be a 5008/Grandland rebadge to be big enough for the USDM.
https://www.electrifying.com/files/ObwdJzmmhKReiPW7/PEUGEOT_E5008TESTDRIVE_2406TC1823.jpg
I really hope the KM Cherokee will be a sales hit and not be butchered by a Stellantis executive. Also I hope it has a manual transmission option (I’m guessing this is extremely unlikely)
“The nameplate left the market after 49 consecutive model years in production.”
I mean, I can’t blame you for completely forgetting about the years between 2001 and 2014. Pretty understandable. Not sure how David let you get away with that particularly awful bit of factual inaccuracy though.
Worldwide the Liberty was sold as the Cherokee. Chrysler basically stepping on a rake in the US as usual.