2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 Preview

Last month Chrysler confirmed that its Street and Racing Technology (SRT) division is safe from the company’s current budgetary cutbacks. Expect to see new models to come out from this performance section in the coming years.

The first of these could be a replacement for the Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8, which has been previewed today in this official teaser sketch showing a new version based on the recently revealed 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee that will likely arrive sometime in 2011. Power is expected to come from a brand new 6.4-liter, HEMI V8 engine rated at around the 500 horsepower and 500 lb.-ft. of torque.

Hopefully, this will be enough to allow the SRT8-prepped Jeep to cement its title as the world’s fastest SUV now that the pair of M SUVs from BMW will be coming out. In addition to the power transplant, the 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 will also sport a subtle body kit, a lowered ride height, stiffed suspension, and chunky SRT 5-spoke wheels housing uprated brakes.

There will also be a new engine that will be called the 392 HEMI (in reference to its capacity in cubic inches) and is expected to first appear in updated versions of the Dodge Challenger and Charger in 2011.

© Source: dubdaily
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2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee

Chrysler LLC is preparing to spend $281 million to renovate the Jefferson North Assembly plant in Detroit where the company now builds the Jeep Grand Cherokee and Jeep Commander.

The automaker hasn’t said anything publicly at the future Grand Cherokee but privately Chrysler officials have confirmed that the money is being spent to produce new 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee, starting in the summer and fall of 2010.

The Jeep Commander, which also is built at Jefferson North, will probably be dropped as Chrysler reduces the number of models it builds as part of the effort to right-size the company for its shrunken market share, analysts have suggested.

While the Commander gets decommissioned, the new Grand Cherokee–one of the Chrysler’s signature vehicles–will come with an optional diesel engine made by Daimler AG or with an optional two-mode hybrid system, which Chrysler has developed jointly through a joint venture with General Motors, Daimler and BMW, Chrysler officials indicated privately last week.

In addition, the 2011 Grand Cherokee will be one of the very first vehicles engineered and sourced under the tough regime being installed by Chrysler’s new chief executive officer Robert Nardelli and vice chairman and president Jim Press. Both Press and Nardelli are taking a direct role in decisions on the new Grand Cherokee, Chrysler sources said.

Key supply contracts will be awarded in the next few months but the new purchasing regime installed by Nardelli is having a huge impact. At the same time, the influence of Daimler’s product development system on Chrysler decisions is rapidly diminishing.

The new Grand Cherokee, however, will have to be developed for export, which probably means it is being developed for both right and left-hand drive markets.

© Source: thecarconnection
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