It's been a year since Chrysler has emerged from bankruptcy and it's been in survival mode awaiting new products. The first product launch under the Chrysler-Fiat umbrella is the all-new 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee, ironically a project that started when Jeep was still part of DaimlerChrysler.
While traditional luxury SUVs have waned a bit in popularity since the start of the automotive sales meltdown that started in 2008, the Grand Cherokee isn't just another SUV, it's an American icon and one of the two foundations of the Jeep brand. And like car-based crossovers, it's always been built on a unitized platform, going all the way back to the first generation launched for the 1993 model year.
Now in its fourth generation, the Grand Cherokee sports smart new styling, a new high-efficiency V6, MDS Hemi, class-leading trailer-towing capabilities, new all-wheel-drive systems, and a world-class interior. Automotive Traveler's Rich Truesdell drove it last week in Northern California and can answer the question posed elsewhere on AutoSpies, STUD or DUD? It's a stud and helps to re-define the category it helped launch almost two decades ago.
Read Article