The new Jeep Grand Wagoneer SUV that is expected to go on sale internationally by 2018, has been confirmed to be a flagship model to rival the likes of the Range Rovers and other high-end 4x4s.

In conversation with sister publication Autocar UK, Jeep's global brand director Michael Manley said, “Part of my plan says there is space for us above the Grand Cherokee. I’ve always talked about Grand Wagoneer, and that for me is a big focus and will fill out the brand at the top.”

It was first at the Geneva motor show 2012 that Jeep said it would be bringing back the Grand Wagoneer, but it was not until now that its relationship to the Grand Cherokee, Jeep's current flagship, was clarified. “I think that vehicle (Grand Wagoneer) will very, very effectively compete with premium SUVs,” Manley said at the recent Paris motor show.

Like the Range Rover and Range Rover Sport, which can be had with three rows of seating in the overseas market, and the India-specced Land Rover Discovery and Mercedes-Benz GL that already get three rows, the new Grand Wagoneer will get them too.

However, Manley said that this new Grand Wagoneer will not be put in a conflicting position with the forthcoming Maserati Levante, another SUV within the Fiat Chrysler Automobiles group. The Levante platform does share some similarity with the Grand Cherokee platform, but it will take a distinctly different segment than the Grand Wagoneer’s. “Maserati and Jeep are two very different brands,” said Manley. “I have zero sleepless nights about the launch of their vehicle. The Levante will play in a part of the market that Jeep is not playing in.”

Manley reiterated his point by identifying Land Rover as Jeep’s main competition. “Range Rover is a different story (to Maserati),” he said. “Jeep and Range Rover have historically competed. Range Rover is the other pure SUV brand in the world. So, they will always be our competitors.”

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