CAUGHT: 2021 Jeep® Grand Cherokee Limited (WL) Out Testing:

There is a lot of excitement surrounding the 2021 model year for the Jeep® brand. With four new vehicles being introduced for the during 2021, there has been a lot of focus on how the brand’s styling direction will go moving into a new decade. One of those vehicles that have people wondering about its further direction is the next-generation Jeep® Grand Cherokee.

Our spy photographers have caught the all-new Grand Cherokee out testing near the FCA US headquarters in Auburn Hills, Michigan. For the first time, we are starting to see some details of what lies underneath all that camouflage. 

Judging by the all-season tires and the relatively small 18-inch wheels on this Grand Cherokee prototype, we believe that this is the mid-level Limited model. The camouflage does a good job hiding most of the details, however, looking at the front end we can see that the new Grand Cherokee will have more of an upright front profile compared to the current model’s more slopped back look. From what we are told from our insiders is that the new Grand Cherokee will, in fact, have more of a “Range Rover Velar-like profile” with more of a straight hood profile, giving this Grand Cherokee a boxier profile. 

The greenhouse area seems to have a more raked windshield than the outgoing model, while the back we are told will have a more slanted rear similar to the 2005 to 2010 Grand Cherokee (WK1) models. We have also been told that a high mounted beltline will run from the front headlights, through the side of the body intersecting with the door handles and ending into the rear tail lights.

In these particular shots, we see that like the current Grand Cherokee, the new one appears to have fog lamps that are mounted higher in the front bumper design. We also find it strange that this prototype has what looks to be halogen headlamps, considering that the most recent spy shots of the upcoming 2021 Dodge Durango we showed you, has full LED lighting. 

According to our sources, we hear that the Grand Cherokee will be getting a lot of new technology added to the lineup for the 2021 model year. For those who were hoping for the Ram 1500’s massive 12-inch Uconnect touchscreen, we are hearing that it will not be making an appearance, however, a new 10.1-inch Uconnect system with the physical controls mounted to the bottom the screen will be appearing for the first time on the Grand Cherokee and its third-row yet to be named stablemate.

We should be seeing the official debut of the Grand Cherokee sometime this year, as it will launch in early 2021 (which could be released as a 2022 model) at the new Mack Avenue Assembly Plant (to be called Detroit 1) and the Jefferson North Avenue Plant (to be called Detroit 2). Its unnamed three-row variant will start rolling off the assembly line later this year at the Detroit 1 plant.

So what features are you looking for in the upcoming 2021 Jeep Grand Cherokee? Let us know in the comments below.