Jeep Grand Commander facelift is powered by a 2.0-litre turbo engine in two states of tune, and a hybrid powertrain
Just a few weeks ago, Jeep revealed the Commander seven-seater SUV based on the Compass for the Latin American market. The brand has broken covers of the updated Grand Commander for the Chinese marketplace at the 2021 Chengdu Auto Show. Rewinding back three years, the American manufacturer unveiled the three-row Grand Commander exclusively for China.
It received a plug-in hybrid variant in 2019 and now a facelift has arrived to stretch the lifespan of the existing model. It is interesting to note that the Commander and Grand Commander have less in common as the South American version is underpinned by the Small Wide Platform as the Compass and China’s Grand Commander is built on the Compact Wide platform as the Cherokee.
Since it is closely related to the Cherokee, the Jeep Grand Commander has bigger proportions as it is longer, wider and taller while the exterior also has a number of differences. Up front, the facelifted Grand Commander gets larger headlamps leading on to the multi-slated vertical chrome grille with different grille inserts.
In addition, the redesigned bumper has busier air inlets along with newly designed alloy wheels. The new bumpers have increased the overall length to 4,895 mm giving a more muscular road presence and at the rear, the LED tail lamps extend towards the middle with graphics identical to the Grand Wagoneer sold in the United States.
Beneath the thick chrome bar, the seven-seater SUV comes with GRAND COMMANDER lettering while the bumper is restyled accompanying the updated exhaust pipes. The cabin boasts a large touchscreen infotainment system and a host of premium amenities pertaining to comfort, convenience, connectivity, safety and assistance-based technologies.
As for the performance, the Grand Commander uses a 2.0-litre turbo engine developing 231 horsepower or 262 horsepower in the front-wheel-drive and all-wheel-drive configuration. Otherwise, a 2.0-litre motor working in tandem with a pair of electric motors and a battery form a hybrid system with a combined driving range of 900 km. All the powertrains are paired with a nine-speed automatic transmission.