The new electric Jeep Wagoneer S will come in only one type called the Launch Edition when it’s in stores. Normally, having just one type of a new car isn’t strange, but Jeep, which is owned by Stellantis, thinks it should have fewer options overall.
Bill Peffer, who is a senior leader at Jeep, said, “We are a mass-market brand. We do sell things in volume — much broader than, say, Maserati was. Complexity reduction is something that happens constantly, and we probably could stand to do a little bit more of it.”
Let’s look at the Wrangler from 2024. You can pick between two main models: the Wrangler and the Wrangler 4xe. The regular Wrangler has eight different trim levels like Sport, Sport S, Willys, Rubicon, Sahara, Rubicon X, Rubicon 392, and Rubicon 392 Final Edition.
Most of them come in either two-door or four-door versions. If you want the four-door 4xe, there are six trim levels for you to choose from. So, that adds up to 19 choices for Wrangler models and styles without even counting the different engines, top options, and so on.
If you’re checking out a Grand Cherokee, there are at least nine trim levels to choose from, not counting the seven types of the plug-in hybrid 4xe.
Having so many options can confuse buyers, and it also makes building the cars more expensive for the company. Peffer said that when you have fewer models, “not only do you have efficiencies that you generate, but fewer opportunities to make mistakes.”
This is why Jeep recently decided to make Wagoneer just a nameplate again, not its own separate brand. It’ll be a Jeep, like the Wrangler and Grand Cherokee. Peffer helped make this change happen. He used to work for Maserati’s American branch and helped make their trim choices simpler.
