While in Europe the Jeep Cherokee is offered with two diesel options, it may take a while until the carmaker decides to offer a similar engine in the United States. That’s because the company is waiting to see whether U.S. consumers will warm up to the idea of a diesel powered Jeep.
Jeep already offers a diesel-powered model in the U.S., the Grand Cherokee. It is powered by a 240hp 3.0-liter V6 EcoDiesel engine built by VM Motori. Jeep brand boss Mike Manley says sales of the diesel-powered Grand Cherokee in the U.S. would have to nearly double before the brand would consider offering a diesel-powered version of the smaller Jeep Cherokee.
Manley said diesel now accounts for about 8 percent of Grand Cherokee sales in the United States. “Cherokee is slightly different because of its weight and size. When I think about bringing Cherokee diesel here, I would like to see Grand Cherokee diesel get much higher than 8 percent. It would have to be in mid-double digits,” Manley was quoted as saying by Automotive News.
However, he didn’t rule out completely the possibility that a diesel-powered Cherokee will arrive in the U.S. at some point in the future. “You never can tell, really. We’ve obviously invested in diesel for Europe. I never rule anything out with diesel for the Jeep brand,” Manley said.
In Europe, the Jeep Cherokee is offered with a 2.0-liter MultiJet four-cylinder turbo diesel available in two states of tune: 138hp (140PS) and 168hp (170PS).
By Dan Mihalascu
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