Jeep Rules Out Diesel and SRT for Everything But Grand Cherokee, Nixes Hybrids Entirely

November 22, 2011 at 3:33pm by Justin Berkowitz

Diesel enthusiasts sprayed each other with crude oil in celebration last month when the CEO of Chrysler and Fiat, Sergio Marchionne, announced that the Grand Cherokee would offer a diesel engine in the U.S. by 2013. That excitement has reached its limits, however, as Jeep boss Mike Manley told us that no other U.S.-market Jeeps will be available with diesel power in the foreseeable future.

And at the other end of the efficiency/performance continuum, Manley said that the Grand Cherokee will continue to be the only Jeep product available in rorty, gas-snorting SRT trim.

What’s left for the rest of the range? Conventional gasoline engines. For the time being, hybrids are completely off the table for all Jeep products, Manley says. The company will improve its vehicles’ fuel economy with help from Fiat: MultiAir valve-lift technology already has been added to several Chrysler-engineered powerplants, and in other cases—possibly the next Liberty and the Patriot/Compass replacement, for example—Jeep likely will simply install engines plucked from its Italian sibling’s roster.

Tags: hybrids, Jeep, Jeep Grand Cherokee, Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8, Jeep Liberty, Jeep Wrangler |

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