Jeep's Big Grand Wagoneer Reveal Has Good News, Bad News & A Special Guest

Jeep will reveal the new Grand Wagoneer on September 3, but it can't stop teasing what the iconic SUV reboot will look like – and the friend it'll bring along for the big unveil. Before you get too excited, however, it's worth noting that the new Grand Wagoneer may not quite be the car we were expecting it to be.

The timing of the event – 9am ET on Thursday, September 3 – has been confirmed on Facebook, and it'll also see the new Jeep Wrangler 4xe debut as well. That's a surprise, given Jeep had until recently been saying that it would show off the new plug-in hybrid version of its Wrangler SUV in December.

Still, we won't argue with an earlier glimpse of the truck. It's the first of Jeep's new 4xe family of models, which will pair gas engines with electrification as it works its way up to a fully-electric model. For the moment we'll have to make do with a plug-in hybrid, though if Jeep can channel some of the positive reaction FCA stablemate Chrysler received with its Pacifica Hybrid minivan, the Wrangler 4xe could be off to a good start.

Now for the bad news. While Jeep may have been teasing us with tidbits of the Grand Wagoneer – its upcoming SUV – for the past few weeks, according to the event details the car we'll see will be a concept. That implies there'll be changes, and potentially significant ones, before the Grand Wagoneer goes into production, which Jeep has previously said will happen, alongside a new Jeep Wagoneer, in Q2 of 2021.

You could well argue this has been another frustrating bait-and-switch in recent car launches. Cadillac, for example, had long been teasing us with the unveil of its Lyriq, the first GM family vehicle to use the automaker's new Ultium electric architecture. When the luxury crossover finally took center-stage, though, Cadillac confirmed that it was a design study and not the final SUV. For that, we'll have to wait until next year.

It's arguably a good explanation for why Jeep's Grand Wagoneer detailing has looked so elevated in the teases the automaker has dropped so far. Whether it's the jewel-like switchgear or illuminated grille we saw earlier this month, or today's highly detailed vent trim or "textured" glass panoramic roof, we'd been curious to see how much Jeep could actually bring to market without the Grand Wagoneer carrying a grand price tag.

By the time the production car arrives, of course, much of this detail could end up diluted – or, and arguably worse still, replaced with cheaper plastic versions. We'll hopefully hear more about just how much of the Jeep Grand Wagoneer Concept will translate to a retail model next week.