The Jeep Wagoneer Is Dead

Honestly, it’s a good thing.Alisa PriddleWriter

ManufacturerPhotographerOct 14, 2025

The Jeep Wagoneer nameplate goes away for the 2026 model year. But save your crocodile tears. Its essence is being absorbed into the 2026 Grand Wagoneer and the consumer should come out the winner under a new and more sensibile strategy by Jeep.

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Jeep brought back the Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer in 2021 after a 30-year hiatus. The brand wanted to make a sub-brand out of the storied nameplates, so much so that they didn’t even wear any Jeep badging.

There was confusion from the get-go. Consumers thought the Grand Wagoneer was a stretched version of the Wagoneer. Nope. That would be the Grand Wagoneer L. In Jeep-speak, the Wagoneer was the more affordable, mainstream model that competed with the likes of Chevy and Ford. The Grand Wagoneer was the pricier, more premium version to compete with Cadillac, Lincoln, even Land Rover.

The strategy didn’t work. Marketing and message were muddled. The SUVs were too pricey. And there were quality issues and software bugs.

Much-Needed Change

But Stellantis has a new CEO in Antonio Filosa and a new head of Jeep with Bob Broderdorf. With the changes comes a new and more pragmatic strategy, starting with the 2026 Grand Wagoneer.

Now that the Wagoneer nameplate is dead, all trim levels will now be united under the Grand Wagoneer name. The entry level, which starts under $65,000, is actually priced less to start than the old Wagoneer. The whole Grand Wagoneer lineup is priced to remain mainstream—no more attempts to make it a premium brand—and that means even the top loaded models will start below $100,000.

The 2026 Grand Wagoneer (pictured below) will go on sale later this year, launching with the standard-output 3.0-liter Hurricane twin-turbo I-6. Next spring Jeep will add a range-extended plug-in hybrid that uses a V-6 as a generator, giving it a reported 150 miles of EV range and more than 500 miles of total range.