On the docket over the next 10-plus years, Jeep CEO Christian Meunier says, is electrifying the lineup to become the world’s greenest SUV brand with a fully battery-electric model in each segment by 2025, adding autonomous capabilities and maybe even going fully underwater. It’s got some new competition in Ford Motor Co.’s Bronco, too, but Jeep plans to stay on top in the off-road market.
In terms of what that could look like, Jeep shared an extended teaser of its vision of the future from last week’s “EV Day” announcing Stellantis will invest roughly $35.5 billion into EVs by 2025. Jeep forecasts 70% of sales will be electrified by then, including hybrid and mild hybrid vehicles — a prediction Meunier said could be on the low side given EVs’ instant torque and quiet travel.
“Electrification … is a compliance issue, obviously,” he said. “But we think it has the opportunity to make our product even more exciting, even more capable and provide our community even better product in the future, obviously while respecting the planet.”
“What they have shown us so far is they are logically moving the DNA of the brand into the electric space,” said Stephanie Brinley, IHS Markit Ltd.’s principal autos analyst for the Americas. “It appears to be a fairly natural progression for Jeep. It always comes down to the execution.”
The very end of the teaser depicts a fictionalized clip of a Wrangler completely underwater.
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