Firm’s new boss is confident it can boost UK sales ahead of electric model push
The forthcoming Wagoneer S, Jeep’s new electric flagship that will lead the way for three key models arriving in the next 18 months, can be more than a niche product and play a significant role in the American brand’s growth, according to its new UK boss.
Jeep currently has around a 0.5% UK market share. The supermini-sized Avenger has accounted for about 75% of those sales, while the larger and more upmarket Grand Cherokee has struggled to attract buyers.
However, new UK boss Kris Cholmondeley believes the Wagoneer S can be a success here, despite a price expected to be close to £100,000.
“The Wagoneer S is a brilliant car, and the segment is big enough,” he said. “We haven’t succeeded with the Grand Cherokee; we have to be honest with that. So we have to learn from that and reflect on how we execute it.
“If you look at the Wagoneer S’s credentials, versus market trends it’s got every chance. There’s clearly a risk, but there’s a risk with the amount of competition for every car you launch.”
He added: “When you look at the segment opportunity, it will bring further growth. SUVs are 50% of the car market, and if you look at where [the Wagoneer S] is going to sit, there’s plenty of other people selling there, so someone with the Jeep brand’s potential can muscle in on it, for sure.”
This Audi Q6 E-tron rival will be followed by the Recon, an electric 4×4 parallel to the Wrangler, and a third model. The identity of that has yet to be confirmed, but Autocar understands it’s a new, electric Compass SUV, which will be based on the same platform as the new Peugeot 3008 and Vauxhall Grandland.
The Recon, which will have similar off-road ability to the Wrangler, will be “very important” in terms of ensuring that Jeep is “known across all segments as a 4×4 brand of repute”, said Cholmondeley.
He added: “Good brands have big cars because they’re the halo models. So the Recon and Wagoneer S will be very important in the trajectory of the brand. We won’t succeed if we maintain with just the Avenger being successful.”
Cholmondeley said that Jeep would reveal another new model in November, and while he declined to confirm that it would be the third-generation Compass, he said that it “will be key to achieving the market share ambitions that we have”.
The Compass will sit above the Avenger in the future line-up, giving Jeep access to the UK’s most popular C-segment market.
Jeep’s UK sales have fluctuated in the past decade and have often been dominated by small cars in its line-up, such as the Avenger and previously the Renegade. Cholmondeley is aiming to stabilise things by focusing on more sustainable growth that protects residual values.
He added that Jeep’s “only limiting factor will be a lack of ambition because of our history”, adding: “Personally, I could see Jeep becoming a 2% [market share] brand in the next five to 10 years.”
