What’s the difference between a Wagoneer and a Grand Wagoneer? If you answered one’s bigger, I’m afraid that’s incorrect. If you answered that one has more chrome give yourself half points. If you answered that one’s posher than the other but otherwise identical, you nailed it, and that’s the problem of the Wagoneer. Thankfully, it seems like a rationalization may be coming, as Mopar Insiders reports that simplification could be coming as soon as next year.
After months of speculation and dealership whispers, it appears the Jeep® Wagoneer nameplate is on its way out. Multiple Jeep dealers are now confirming that the company plans to discontinue the standard Wagoneer after the 2025 model year, consolidating the lineup under the more prestigious Grand Wagoneer name for 2026.
While the idea of breaking out an upmarket trim variant of an existing car worked decades ago when automaker lineups were small, we’ve long since reached such a level of hyper-individualization that it ended up being confusing. Five years ago, you could’ve told someone that one luxury brand sells a crossover specifically tailored to people with hyperbolic paraboloid-shaped hair and another for people who only order beef on the left side of their pizzas, and they’d have believed you. Lineups became bloated, and people got confused.
Of course, another fad beyond excessive individualization that Jeep latched onto was trying to turn Wagoneer into its own sub-brand, which didn’t seem to really work. After all, the model’s nameplate didn’t have more equity than the Jeep nameplate, and showrooms were crowded enough with Chryslers, Jeeps, Dodges, Rams, and sometimes Fiats and Alfa Romeos being sold out of the same space.
Thankfully, if the report is to come true, clarity should be just around the corner. Not only might every body-on-frame three-row Jeep be a Grand Wagoneer, but normal Jeep trim levels might replace the Series I, Series II, Series III hierarchy. Indeed, Mopar Insiders uncovered a trademark for Grand Wagoneer Summit, like the Grand Cherokee Summit. If this happens, it ought to make comparing big versus medium SUVs on the showroom floor a little bit easier.
I’ve reached out to Jeep and will keep you updated as soon as I hear back, but this report does seem promising for now. Examples of Jeep’s flagship body-on-frame SUV probably should’ve all been Grand Wagoneer models from the start, and there definitely should be greater differentiation now that the electric unibody Wagoneer S is a thing. Will anyone miss the standard Wagoneer nameplate? Maybe a few people who already own one, but for everyone else, amalgamation could be a good thing. In any case, this might explain why Jeep has teased the 2026 Grand Wagoneer but not the 2026 Wagoneer. Food for thought.
Top graphic image: Jeep
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I just had one of these as a rental 2 weeks ago. Fantastic highway vehicle, I quite enjoyed the Hurricane engine. But the interior was all flimsy plastic except for the seats (which were not comfortable). I was extremely unimpressed compared to my Dad’s Suburban.
New Jeep trim lineup:
– Grand Wagoneer
– Grand Wagoneer Royale
– Grand Wagoneer Royale with cheese
Based on how little I see them, the Grand Wagoneer might be the next name plate to disappear.
Time travel me back to the 90’s, and I could easily tell you the difference between a Cherokee (boxy), Grand Cherokee (swoopy-ish), and Wrangler (even more boxy; unmistakeable). And each had their obvious lanes, and you still see quite a few Cherokees and Wranglers out roaming the trail where I’m at.
The new Jeep Grand Wagoneer / Wagoneer brand/model mess doesn’t make any sense to me. I’m somewhere in the demographic that would purchase these, and while Toyota and GM have their own sloppy messes with regards to swim lanes and branding, I just don’t see what Jeep is trying to do with their massive upmarket push before legitimizing (once again) the bottom and mid of their market. Jeep had great mindshare in the 90’s and pretty good brand awareness, but I have seen only a handful of Wagoneers/Grand Wagoneers in the wild (and I’m guessing they were rental units, given the California plates in Utah national parks), and I have never seen them towing anything or offroad or even off pavement. I couldn’t pick a new Compass/Liberty/Cherokee out of a lineup.
Jeep needs to, in a sentence, get back to its roots, because the market of individuals who are seeking to move upmarket from the bottom end of its offering is virtually nil.
Well, why didn’t they just use the Grand Wagoneer name on the LWB and just Wagoneer for the SWB?
LOL