The Wagoneers hit the market in 2021 after a 30-year hiatus. Maybe that made some of the decision-making a little rusty.
Wagoneer was the more affordable option, targeting mainstream competitors; Grand Wagoneer was billed as the pricier, premium offering going after more rarified air. But the names confused consumers, who thought the Grand just meant it was bigger. Which made the stretched L versions even harder to figure out.
For 2026, all trims are unified under a single flagship name: Grand Wagoneer. And with a starting price of just under $65,000, and top trims to remain below six figures, the competition is now mainstream and the pricing more aggressive to reach a broader audience. “In terms of the value proposition, the walks were insane, said Jeep CEO Bob Broderdorf. “You had to go so premium to get the things you really want.”
Jeep: We Messed Up But We’re Fixing It
Names, pricing, branding, trims are all being addressed.Alisa PriddleWriter
ManufacturerPhotographerOct 14, 2025
The Jeep Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer have been the poster boys for getting some fundamental things wrong in recent years at Jeep, but the new management at Stellantis and Jeep are determined to fix all that, starting with the new 2026 Jeep Grand Wagoneer.
The Wagoneers hit the market in 2021 after a 30-year hiatus. Maybe that made some of the decision-making a little rusty.
Wagoneer was the more affordable option, targeting mainstream competitors; Grand Wagoneer was billed as the pricier, premium offering going after more rarified air. But the names confused consumers, who thought the Grand just meant it was bigger. Which made the stretched L versions even harder to figure out.
For 2026, all trims are unified under a single flagship name: Grand Wagoneer. And with a starting price of just under $65,000, and top trims to remain below six figures, the competition is now mainstream and the pricing more aggressive to reach a broader audience. “In terms of the value proposition, the walks were insane, said Jeep CEO Bob Broderdorf. “You had to go so premium to get the things you really want.”
It’s A Jeep
The other misstep: Jeep tried to make Wagoneer a sub-brand. The SUVs didn’t wear any Jeep badging, for example. Jeep is one of the most recognized brands in the world—it’s how children in some countries learn the letter J—and executives now realize the error of their ways. The 2026 Grand Wagoneer is a Jeep and will be badged as such. Simple. End of story. No more attempts to make it a standalone premium sub-brand. “Rebadging the SUVs as Jeeps should have been done long ago,” said Broderdorf. “Treat it like a Jeep, like everything else.”
The new grand plan also gets rid of the Series trims, another thing that no one understood. Trims will be more uniform across Jeep products, with Limited and Summit leading the charge. “Series names confused the hell out of everybody,” said Broderdorf. “We want the same names for Cherokee, Grand Cherokee, Grand Wagoneer.”
“It was all too confusing,” he added. “Nomenclature and pricing will improve the throughput of the car.”
4xe By Any Other Name
Another name that needs sorting out: 4xe, which applies to EVs and plug-in hybrids but is not consistent across nameplates globally.
“This is a chance to clean up our nomenclature,” said Broderdorf. He is grappling with what 4xe means. “Some people think of the plug-in hybrid. Some people like technology. But it was a heavily leased product based on the tax credits, so some people think of it as a low-lease payment. In Europe, it is different. I want to be clear, when I use 4xe, what it means consistently around the world. I’m a stickler for nomenclature.”
He said it is not decided whether the Grand Wagoneer extended-range electric plug-in hybrid will be badged 4xe or how to market the powertrain that uses a V-6 engine as a generator. Stellantis calls the technology REEV, but that’s not its official brand name.
Four New Jeeps in Four Months
Broderdorf has been on the job less than a year, but the long-time company veteran is a busy man. Jeep is revealing four vehicles in four months—or 4×4 as the Jeep executives like to call it. It started with the return of the Jeep Cherokee shown in August, which marked the launch of the first hybrid for the brand in North America.
It is followed by the new Grand Wagoneer and Grand Cherokee, both of which will go on sale by the end of the year. Jeep will also show the electric Jeep Recon off-roader later this year. And we’re told to expect Wrangler news soon, as well.
Jeep used to be a license to print money, but it has suffered a sales decline which contributed to a leadership change at the top. Things are slowing getting back on track. Jeep had its best third-quarter sales results in two years, with Grand Wagoneer sales up 70 percent, Wrangler up 18 percent, and total Jeep sales up 11 percent from a year ago.
