The electrical Jeep Wagoneer S shall be supplied in a single configuration known as Launch Version when it begins arriving in showrooms. Whereas bringing new fashions to the market with one trim is not uncommon, the Stellantis-owned model believes it ought to proceed to pare down its vary.
“We’re a mass-market model. We do promote issues in quantity — a lot broader than, say, Maserati was. Complexity discount is one thing that occurs consistently, and we most likely may stand to do some bit extra of it,” Invoice Peffer, Jeep’s senior vp, informed The Drive.
He has a degree. Hearth up the 2024 Wrangler configurator and you have got two fashions to select from: the Wrangler and the Wrangler 4xe. The previous is obtainable in eight trim ranges known as Sport, Sport S, Willys, Rubicon, Sahara, Rubicon X, Rubicon 392, and Rubicon 392 Last Version, respectively. All however three can be found with two or 4 doorways. Consumers who need the four-door-only 4xe have six trim ranges to select from. So if we have achieved the maths proper, that is 19 decisions of Wrangler trims and physique types in all — and that is not even counting all the alternatives for engines, exhausting and tender tops, and so on.
Store for a Grand Cherokee and you have got at least 9 trim ranges to select from, excluding the seven variants of the plug-in hybrid 4xe.
Providing such a big selection can create confusion amongst consumers, and it will increase manufacturing prices for carmakers. Peffer famous that, if you pare down a spread of fashions, “not solely do you may have efficiencies that you just generate, however fewer alternatives to make errors.”
This line of pondering additionally explains why Jeep not too long ago determined that Wagoneer will now not be a sub-brand. Will probably be a nameplate, like Wrangler and Grand Cherokee (and prefer it was for many years), and the massive body-on-frame SUV shall be branded as a Jeep. Peffer is in a very good place to hold out this modification: he beforehand ran Maserati’s American division and performed an enormous function in simplifying the trim construction.