We’ve been hearing rumors about a 707-horsepower Hellcat Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk for a hot minute, but now part of that rumor is official: the Trackhawk is definitely coming. And it’s going to be much more than just a powered-up Grand Cherokee SRT, apparently.
The Detroit News spoke with head of the Jeep brand Mike Manley at the Los Angeles Auto show yesterday, where he confirmed that a high-performance, track-oriented Grand Cherokee SUV will debut at the New York Auto Show in April. Manley told the news site the vehicle will launch for the U.S. market sometime around next September, and that it would head to Asia, the middle east and other markets thereafter.
Manley wouldn’t discuss what engine would power this beast, but when asked if the Trackhawk would replace the current 470 horsepower Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8, Manley said there is “space for both,” saying:
“I don’t see any reason to stop our current Grand Cherokee SRT just because we’ve launched the Trackhawk, because they’re going to be very different vehicles.”
Manley said Jeep faithful have come to expect a performance version of the Grand Cherokee, which has helped expand the brand’s reach.
“With Grand Cherokee, we have built up for a long time, that concept of capability at the two bookends — one: capability off-road, two: capability in terms of on-road performance,” he said. “I like that with Grand Cherokee.”
Very different vehicles? How different does he mean? Like, 237 horsepower different? Or maybe this thing will do something special we aren’t expecting?
Guess we’ll find out come this spring.