The departing gift Daimler gave to Chrysler Corporation was the premium platform that has underpinned the Jeep Grand Cherokee and Dodge Durango since the 2011 model year. That architecture has served those vehicles well, but it's time for new bones.

At the Fiat Chrysler Automobiles investor conference in Italy last Friday, Motor Authority asked company CEO Sergio Marchionne for clarification on what will underpin the next Grand Cherokee, and he confirmed it will be the platform used for the Alfa Romeo Stelvio SUV, as well as the Giulia sedan.

"It started originally off the Alfa architecture, which has now been modified and extended to reach both a two-row and a three-row Grand Cherokee," Marchionne said, noting that the platform has been adapted to reflect the requirements of Jeep.

Timing for the next-generation Grand Cherokee hasn't been announced, but Marchionne said the work for the platform at least has already been done. That could mean the next-generation vehicle will arrive sooner rather than later, perhaps in 2019 or 2020 instead of toward the end of Jeep's five-year plan.

Marchionne's comments may have also let another secret slip. The Jeep 2022 roadmap lists a next-gen Jeep Grand Cherokee as well as a three-row E-segment (mid-size) SUV. Based on Marchionne's comments, it appears that the three-row vehicle will be called Grand Cherokee as well.

From the product plan, we also know that the Grand Cherokee will be the first of the company's products to offer Level 2 self-driving capability. It may arrive in 2020, and it may be on this generation platform or the next. It should be able to brake, accelerate, steer, and change lanes on long highway drives, much like the Cadillac Super Cruise system. Level 3 self-driving technology will arrive by the end of 2021.

We're just reading the tea leaves, but it would make the most sense to add those technologies to the next-generation vehicle, so the timing could be 2020 either as a 2020 or 2021 model year vehicle.

The product plan also shows that the next Grand Cherokee will offer a plug-in hybrid powertrain, though Jeep didn't provide detailed information on that system.

It’s absurd.

That’s the word that kept flowing from pen to notepad as I tried to collect my thoughts on this 2018 Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk. The thought of 707 supercharged horsepower in a midsized family SUV is nothing but absurd.

And yet, if you don’t mind getting friendly with both your neighborhood gas station owner and your local replacement tire shop over your ownership term, the Trackhawk is a compelling choice. Unless you relish anonymity.

Especially in bright red, the Trackhawk announces its presence with authority. I was constantly aware that I was wheeling a vehicle that would never blend into any background. While the standard Grand Cherokee is a familiar sight in mall parking lots everywhere, those demure cruisers don’t wear 10-inch-wide wheels wrapped in 295-section Pirelli performance tires. They don’t have bright yellow six-piston Brembo brake calipers shouting from the wheelwells.

And they certainly don’t have a supercharged Hemi V8 under the hood. Shared with the Hellcat models from Dodge, 707 horsepower makes this the fastest Jeep ever. I’ll admit, I’d love to have gotten this on a dragstrip to see what it can do when properly flogged, but Jeep quotes 11.6 seconds in the quarter-mile, and 3.5 seconds 0-60. With my Racelogic Driftbox, I was able to turn 3.4 seconds in the 0-60 run using launch control.

Yes, launch control. In an SUV. Absurd.

It took some driving to get the Trackhawk to a flat, straight, and most importantly deserted farm road so I could properly test that launch mode. A bit of manipulating of settings both on the console dial — TRACK MODE! — and on the center touchscreen would enable launch mode, and also enable my rear deep into the seat.

Driving into the hinterlands reminded me of one more inescapable fact — creating this much power takes bucketfuls of premium unleaded. The EPA estimate of 17 mpg on the highway may be achievable on a long enough cruise, but I struggled to keep the onboard calculator to approach the 13 mpg combined figure. With the hooning one would expect from a guy who is given this after a week in a subcompact economy car, I only managed 11.2 mpg over my test. Again, absurd.

Despite its prodigious thirst, the Grand Cherokee Trackhawk was reasonably docile when driven with restraint. While the exhaust note and supercharger whine are noticeable when hustling, the sound is restrained on start-up and when driving calmly through the neighborhood. I had no complaints from my wife or the neighbors when I started the Jeep each morning.

The ride was a bit harsh when encountering pavement that would better suit the trail-rated Jeeps, but was otherwise firm and controlled. It’s not a luxury cruiser, but neither will it punish you. It’s loud when cruising, however, as those steamroller Pirellis, the supercharger, the big frontal area, and the lope of the V8 combine into a cacophonous roar.

The seats are comfortable, though I could do without the Alcantara seat inserts. While comfy, they seem to soak up the sun’s rays and apply them directly to bare thighs. The ventilated (and heated, though I didn’t try the heat) seats do well, but the initial seating can be toasty.

The cargo space is a bit narrow — the subwoofer over the right rear wheel well seems to cut into the given area. While I fit coolers, chairs, and sports bags for a weekend of multiple sports tournaments, there wasn’t much extra room.

Similarly, the space in the second row was a bit tight. While the kids didn’t have their legs jammed into the rear of the front seats, it was close. Moving around like kids often do wasn’t as comfortable as in most similarly-sized crossovers. Changing from softball cleats to soccer cleats when racing at unmentionable speeds from one venue to another was a struggle for my eldest.

Otherwise, the Trackhawk worked well as a commuter. It’s not a track-specific beast that can’t handle the more banal parts of our driving, though it’s certainly one of the only SUVs I’d consider taking out on the track.

Perhaps the best example came on the first night I drove the Grand Cherokee Trackhawk. I took the family out for pizza. As we filled our drinks, I noticed a young twenty-something man and his girlfriend get out of a spotless first-generation Chrysler 300. While my eye was drawn to the decade-old full-sizer that had inexplicably escaped the beater-and-massive rims fate that most of these have fallen to, I noticed the couple wander to the Jeep.

The youths walked around for several long moments, then came into the restaurant. His line as he opened the door will remain with me forever — “I don’t ever want to own an SUV, but if I had to, that’s the SUV I’d own.”

Finally, SUVs are as uncool to this generation as minivans are to mine, and wagons are to my parents.

So, excusing myself from the wife and kids, I invited the couple outside to take a closer look. I fired it up, and the young lady was visibly shaken by the HellJeep’s sound.

Once again, absurd.

Just days after General Motors took many by surprise with an announcement that it might close a factory in Detroit, there’s some encouraging news in the Motor City: Fiat Chrysler is expected to open a new factory in the city, according to a report from The Detroit News. A source familiar with the plans confirmed the news to Jalopnik.

The News reports that FCA plans to revive the Mack Avenue Engine II factory, which has sat unused since 2012. When it’s up and running, the automaker plans to use it to build a new three-row Jeep Grand Cherokee for model year 2021, the newspaper said, citing multiple unnamed sources familiar with the plan.

FCA wouldn’t comment to the News, and a spokesperson told Jalopnik the same, when reached by phone Wednesday.

When the Mack II plant starts production, the News reported that FCA would then retool the Jefferson North Assembly Plant across the street to facilitate production of two- and three-row Grand Cherokees. A public announcement is anticipated sometime next week, according to the report.

If the plant comes online, the News noted, it would mark the first new automotive assembly plant to open in Detroit in 27 years.

The Jeep Grand Cherokee doesn't really need to be replaced. This luxury-SUV stalwart is as handsome and pleasant a vehicle to drive as anything in FCA's lineup. But this generation came out in 2010; that's an eternity in the modern SUV world. The current version is so old that its Mercedes-Benz-based underpinnings date back to the DaimlerChrysler days. Still, Jeep managed to sell more than 242,000 of them in the U.S. in 2019. That's not just the best year of the WG2 generation's nine-year run, it's the best annual sales for the nameplate since 2000.

But change must come to all things, even the good ones. And so, late this year, Jeep will launch an entirely new Grand Cherokee. It likely won't make it into buyers' hands until early next year. What those new owners will get is a Jeep based on a version of the Alfa Romeo Giorgio platform found under the Giulia sedan and Stelvio SUV. The Grand Cherokee will be significantly longer than the trim little Stelvio, though. Not only will the Jeep's wheelbase surpass the Alfa's 110.9 inches, we expect it to be longer than the current Grand Cherokee's 114.7 inches. So it's a good bet that the new ute will be roomier than the outgoing model.

It will launch as a two-row SUV like all previous Grand Cherokees; sometime down the line, Jeep will offer it with a third row as well. A three-row Wagoneer is also planned, but that vehicle will be much larger and use body-on-frame construction, so there shouldn't be much overlap between them.

We anticipate a turbocharged 2.0-liter inline-four, likely with hybridization, to become the Jeep's base engine. Surely we'll also see a Pentastar 3.6-liter V-6 with eTorque assist in the engine bay. Later, the brand will introduce a plug-in hybrid, too. Might the Grand Cherokee also get the diesel offered in the Wrangler and Ram 1500? Quite possibly. Could it also host a Hemi, maybe even a Hellcat like the Trackhawk does? We don't see FCA walking away from its Hellcat-everything strategy anytime soon.

Like the current model, the new Grand Cherokee will be offered as rear-, all-, and four-wheel-drive versions, and because this is Jeep we're talking about, a Trailhawk off-road-capable edition is certain to be in the mix. Since the vehicle will still have "Grand" in its name, the interior details should be a step above those of your average Jeep. And because such things are considered progress, digital screens will replace the analog gauges and a rotary knob will take the place of a conventional shifter.

The outgoing Grand Cherokee owes its enduring appeal to the substantive engineering beneath the leather and behind the screens. Here's hoping that substance carries through in this wholesale redesign of a market favorite on a different architecture.

There’s a strong dose of Mercedes S-Class in those screens.

The 2022 Jeep Grand Cherokee will get a very modern interior design if recent spy photos are to be believed. Our source was able to get close enough to the heavily camouflaged test mule to snap a pretty clear photo of the cockpit of Jeep’s upcoming midsize SUV, and there’s lots of technology on display.

Most obviously, there’s a massive, slanted touchscreen mounted high on the dash. Mounted horizontally and not vertically, the screen looks like it’s at least 12 inches across. It also appears to take some inspiration from the upcoming Mercedes-Benz S-Class, though we’re sure the resemblance is coincidental since the companies are no longer linked in any way. The high, wide touchscreen should be easier to use with less distraction than FCA’s Uconnect 12 offering, the mostly excellent 12.0-inch vertical screen found in some versions of the Ram 1500.

On the Grand Cherokee (now believed to be delayed until the 2022 model year), we can also see some clearly marked hard buttons below the infotainment display, as well as a row of toggle switches up high on the dashboard. The presence of physical buttons bodes well for ergonomics. The center console houses FCA’s now-familiar rotary shift dial, and we’d expect to see some off-road controls in the same location on production models.

Styling-wise, the interior of the 2022 Grand Cherokee is a rather attractive evolution of the current SUV’s cabin. There’s still a slight wing shape to the dashboard fascia, but the larger touchscreen display and new digital instrument cluster modernize the look significantly. Wide HVAC outlets on the top of the dash look sophisticated, as do the matte-finish wood panels spreading out from the infotainment system. To our eyes, there’s also a very slight callback to the first-generation Grand Cherokee, with a mostly flat dash top that gives way to a bulging instrument cluster.

The 2022 Jeep Grand Cherokee will reportedly use FCA’s Giorgio platform, shared with the Alfa Romeo Giulia sedan and Stelvio SUV. However, expect the Grand to boast significant hardware upgrades to elevate its off-road performance to a level befitting a Jeep. Permanent four-wheel drive will likely benefit from a low-range transfer case, and there should be sophisticated traction and suspension technology to help it earn a “Trail Rated” badge.

The Jeep SUV’s debut date is a mystery, but we expect to see it in November, coinciding with the not-yet-cancelled 2020 Los Angeles Auto Show. Expect the 2022 Jeep Grand Cherokee to hit dealers next summer.

This is a big year for Jeep SUVs, and we mean that quite literally. Not only is it launching a full-size SUV in the form of the Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer, the Grand Cherokee midsize SUV is being completely redesigned and expanded, both in model offerings and physical size. That comes courtesy of the 2021 Jeep Grand Cherokee L, a lengthened version of the upcoming SUV that comes with a third row of seats, a first for the model.

This new Grand Cherokee L, and the two-row version that will follow later this year, are built on a completely new platform not used by any current product, nor the upcoming Wagoneer's full-size, truck-based platform. As with every Grand Cherokee before it, it has a unibody chassis. About 60% of it is composed of high-strength steel, and aluminum is used for the hood, hatch, shock towers and front subframe, all of which is to help keep weight down.

Multi-link independent suspension is used at all four corners, and adjustable air suspension is available. With the standard suspension, ground clearance is 8.5 inches with approach, breakover and departure angles of 20.6, 18.2 and 21.5 degrees, respectively. The air suspension's standard ride height is slightly lower at 8.3 inches, but it can be raised to 10.9 inches in the highest off-road mode. When raised to this height, the approach, breakover and departure angles are 30.1, 22.6 and 23.6 degrees respectively for the more off-road friendly Overland trim. The top-level Summit trim has a slightly worse approach angle of 28.2 degrees because of a different front bumper. The air suspension has also been revised to lower more quickly by lowering both ends simultaneously, rather than one at a time.

Powering the Grand Cherokee L will be a choice of familiar engines. The base one is the 3.6-liter Pentastar V6 making 290 horsepower and 257 pound-feet of torque. The optional 5.7-liter V8 makes 357 horsepower and 390 pound-feet of torque. Towing capacity for the V6 is 6,200 pounds, and the V8 can handle 7,200 pounds. Both come with an eight-speed automatic. Three four-wheel-drive systems are available. The base version is a single-speed automatic system called Quadra-Trac I. Quadra-Trac II is also automatic system but it adds a low-range gear set. Quadra-Drive II adds an electronically controlled limited-slip rear differential. All the Grand Cherokee's four-wheel-drive systems can disconnect the front axle automatically when not needed to boost fuel economy. A 4xe hybrid model will be available later this year.

Inside, the big news is of course that the Grand Cherokee L has three rows of seats. The second row can be had as either a bench or as buckets for carrying either seven or six people. The dash design is quite similar to that of the Wagoneer, though with fewer screens. The screens remaining are still impressive, with a 10.25-inch instrument display and 10.1-inch infotainment screen as standard on all Grand Cherokee L models. A 10-inch head-up display is available as an option. The instrument panel is highly customizable and can display navigation, off-road data and even the feed from a night vision camera. The infotainment system uses the latest UConnect 5 software. In addition to the metal dash accents, the Grand Cherokee L can be further spruced up with real wood and leather trim, and a McIntosh sound system that features a menu with the brand's signature green and blue logo and VU needles.

The three-row Grand Cherokee L will enter production soon, and will be on sale in the second quarter of this year. The two-row and hybrid models will start production later this year with sales starting soon after. Four trim levels are available for the Grand Cherokee L. Laredo is the base trim followed by Limited, Overland and Summit. Overland is available with an Off-Road Group package that adds Quadra-Drive II, skid plates, 18-inch wheels with all-season tires. Jeep made no mention of Trailhawk, SRT or Trackhawk versions of the L. We suspect that the two-row Grand Cherokee, which will likely have a shorter wheelbase and thus better breakover angle capability, will be the only trim to get a Trailhawk trim. Jeep is also probably saving any SRT models for a year or two into the new Grand Cherokee's model cycle. Pricing hasn't been announced yet, but should be revealed close to the on-sale date.