V8 engines are experiencing a renaissance at Stellantis, and that Jeep Grand Cherokee could be the next beneficiary – although it is unlikely to return here.
The Jeep Grand Cherokee, once Australia’s best-selling large SUV, was discontinued here in 2025, and in other markets where the current-generation WL continues to be sold, it only has a turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder petrol engine.
This replaced the 3.6-liter V6 gasoline engine from 2026, while the plug-in hybrid four-cylinder option was also deleted. The 5.7-litre Hemi V8 was discontinued even earlier in 2023 and never came to Australia, despite being offered in the previous WK2 generation.
However, with Carlos Tavares out as CEO of parent company Stellantis and more focus on the US market, where emissions regulations have been relaxed, a V8 option is set to return to the Grand Cherokee.
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“I would say to Grand Cherokee customers, we’ll listen to you and then stay tuned to learn more,” said Joe Aljajawi, who led development of the updated WL Grand Cherokee The drive.
It’s possible Jeep will bring the 5.7-liter V8 back to the Grand Cherokee, like sister brand Ram did with its 1500 pickup.
said Ram CEO Tim Kuniskis Mopar Insider The company expects to build more than 100,000 V8 engines in 2026, up from 30,000 in 2025, as it sees strong demand for the reintroduced 5.7-liter Hemi – despite the availability of more powerful twin-turbocharged inline-six gasoline engines in the 1500 that were never introduced in the Grand Cherokee.
However, the Hurricane Six was added to the even larger Jeep Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer SUVs based on the Ram 1500, eventually displacing the 5.7- and 6.4-liter V8 models.
The lack of a Grand Cherokee V8 has effectively forced Jeep owners to switch the maximum towing capacity to the larger SUVs.
Here the petrol V8 was a niche player. Around 57 percent of WK2 Grand Cherokee sales in Australia were of turbodiesel V6-powered models, with the remaining 43 percent being split between petrol engines with V6 and V8.
Stellantis recently confirmed that it will expand its range of diesel-powered models in the European market, reversing a move away from powertrain technology that accompanied the phase-out of V8 engines at its American brands and Maserati.
However, the 3.0-liter turbodiesel V6 “EcoDiesel” used in the previous Grand Cherokee is no longer produced, while diesel-powered vehicles are niche players in Jeep’s home market – both factors that suggest the return of a Grand Cherokee diesel is unlikely.
It’s also unclear whether the Grand Cherokee itself will ever return to Australia.
When it was discontinued in 2025, Jeep Australia officially said it would be “paused” for our market as it sought to “adapt the Jeep product portfolio to local market dynamics and customer preferences.” However, the production of right-hand drive vehicles had been discontinued.
Yet the Grand Cherokee was still Jeep’s best seller in Australia last year, with sales boosted by huge discounts on remaining stock.
Jeep Australia delivered 673 Grand Cherokees, up 4.3 percent from 2024 and more than Wrangler (433), Gladiator (332), Compass (147) and Avenger (97).
Despite the slump, Grand Cherokee sales were still a shadow of what they once were here. In 2014, it became Australia’s best-selling large SUV with a whopping 16,582 delivered, even surpassing the evergreen Toyota Prado.
The good times didn’t last long: Grand Cherokee sales fell to 11,964 in 2015, 6,379 in 2016, and continued to decline almost every year thereafter.
The Grand Cherokee has followed the overall trend of the Jeep brand in Australia, which has plummeted from a peak of 30,408 sales in 2014 to just 1682 sales in 2025.
There’s only one confirmed upcoming launch: a new-generation Compass, due here later this year.
MORE: Explore the Jeep Grand Cherokee showroom
