Hybrid petrol drivetrain comes in as diesel drops out.

REVEALED overnight and a year away from local availability – that’s the new-generation Jeep Cherokee in the five-seat format America’s most famous off-road brand has designed for global use.

The two-row model unsurprisingly has a ton of design and tech commonality with a seven-seater Grand Cherokee L variant Jeep revealed earlier this year.

While the latter would seem a shoo-in for meeting Kiwi tastes, it unfortunately seems set to be built only in left-hand-drive and sold just in North America.

Jeep’s national distributor, Ateco, has confirmed a 2022 arrival - June or later - for the new Grand, which succeeds a car that has, having put in more than a decade of sales’ service, become the oldest in its category with the demise of the longer-lived Mitsubishi Pajero.  Specific pricing, drivetrain choice and specification details will be announced closer to launch.

Though it takes a new platform and obviously delivers a smart new styling approach, the big talking point with the next model is potentially going to be that diesel is dropped and, instead, it comes with a plug-in petrol-electric hybrid that our neighbour has confirmed it will take.

The 4xe PHEV pairs a 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder with two electric motors and a 17kWh battery pack, for combined outputs of 280kW and 637Nm.

Jeep claims it’ll achieve an optimal 40km of pure electric driving range and a combined fuel economy rating of 4.1 litres per 100km. Total range is 708km.

The powertrain has Hybrid, Electric and eSave modes; the last designed to ‘hold’ the battery charge level until it is needed. A set of motor-generator units replace the alternator and transmission torque converter, while underbody skid plates and water sealing allow it to have the same 610mm wading depth as other versions.

If the electric-assist approach seems too ‘Green’ for your red-blooded tastes, then the model can also supply with much thirstier naturally-aspirated petrols, a 3.6-litre V6 making 219kW/353Nm and a 5.7-litre V8 Hemi with 266kW/529Nm and cylinder deactivation.  

All powertrains operate through an eight-speed automatic and full-time four-wheel-drive.

Jeep says the plug-in hybrid 4xe variant can tow up to 2720kg braked, increasing to 2812kg in 3.6-litre V6 versions and 3265kg with the 5.7-litre V8.

The new Grand is larger than its predecessor, measuring in at 4910mm long and 2150mm wide, with a 2964mm wheelbase.

Boot space has risen by 40 litres to 1068L – though overseas’ commentators believe that measurement was recorded up to the roof, rather than to the window line – while there's also more space for passengers in both rows.