Jeep is due to launch the all-new Grand Cherokee internationally sometime in 2018 or 2019. Now, FCA (Fiat Chrysler Automobiles) boss Sergio Marchionne has confirmed that the SUV will be based on Alfa Romeo’s rear-wheel-drive 'Giorgio' platform – the same architecture as the Stelvio SUV and Giulia saloon.
Speaking at the Detroit motor show, Marchionne explained that FCA was completing a feasibility study into the viability of building the fifth-generation Grand Cherokee on the rear-wheel-drive 'Giorgio' platform. “The most natural application of a further evolution of the Alfa Romeo platform is the Grand Cherokee,” he said. “We’re finishing the study now, and going by the latest information, the Grand Cherokee will be based on it, unless something happens in the next 60 days that suggests it isn’t doable."
“That would really complete the story of architectural development for us because I think it would certainly nail in a big piece of the Jeep story,” Marchionne added.
Developed by FCA, the longitudinal-engined Giorgio architecture can be adapted for a variety of vehicle types, in addition to having four-wheel-drive capability. The development of the platform focused on ensuring it was light in weight and imbued with good fundamental driving dynamics.
The current-generation Grand Cherokee harks back to the Daimler-Chrysler era and shares its underpinnings with what was then called the Mercedes-Benz M-class, now known as the GLE.