Rare Rides Icons: The Jeep Wagoneer, The First Luxury SUV Ever (Part XIX)

During the first four years the new Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer were on sale, Jeep shifted around engine options but left the exterior unchanged while it worked on branding plans. At its 2026 refresh, the base Wagoneer was eliminated. Soldiering on alone was a revised Grand Wagoneer in regular and L long-wheelbase flavors, stripped of some equipment at lower trims for price parity with the cancelled Wagoneer. The exterior edits also removed Wagoneer branding from the front and rear, as Jeep gave up on the idea of Wagoneer as a standalone sub-brand. Today we’ll talk about a casualty of that abandoned sub-brand idea, the Wagoneer S.

Jeep’s original plan was to create a small fleet of vehicles wearing the Wagoneer brand. When the Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer launched in 2022, the sub-brand’s flagship products skipped Jeep badges intentionally. While this was intended to make the SUVs seem “separate” and more upscale, it caused confusion with consumers.

The brand’s CEO (newly minted in 2024) admitted the “Grand” moniker for the upscale models was a mistake. Consumers incorrectly assumed the Wagoneer was the standard-length version, while Grand Wagoneer was long-wheelbase. Additionally, Wagoneers wore different trim names than other Jeep models, with Series I-III in place of Jeep’s established names like Limited, Summit, and Overland.

The new trims caused a disconnect with consumers. Another flaw, according to Jeep’s CEO, was steep pricing jumps for higher trims. With prices in six-figure territory, many desirable options were limited to the most expensive trims. We’ve covered this previously; the price scaling turned off consumers who were unwilling to spend $15,000 more to get a specific option on their Grand Wagoneer. 

With regard to Wagoneer-branded hybrid and EV options, in 2024 Jeep stated it was uncertain whether its “4xe” plug-in hybrid moniker would be implemented at Wagoneer. Usage of 4xe was inconsistent at Jeep. Nevertheless, Jeep thereafter confirmed a 4xe Grand Wagoneer would launch in 2025. 

Later the brand confirmed Wagoneer 4xe would arrive in 2026. Subsequently, Jeep said 4xe as a trim would continue in North America but not as a plug-in hybrids as it cancelled all plug-in hybrid models after fires and engine issues. The Grand Wagoneer 4xe never arrived.

During the consumer confusion and under-hood wildfires, an electric Wagoneer was introduced. It wore Jeep branding front and rear but used large block WAGONEER lettering on the front doors. Interestingly, though it said 4xe on the tailgate it was fully electric. No 4xe version with a combustion engine was offered.

While the Wagoneer name conjured images of large SUVs, the Wagoneer S split the difference between a compact and a midsize crossover. Built on the STLA Large platform used by the new Jeep Cherokee, the Wagoneer S had a wheelbase of 113 inches and an overall length of 192.4 inches. That was four inches longer than the compact Cherokee, but an inch shorter than the Grand Cherokee.

At 74.8 inches wide, it was notably narrower than the 77.9-inch width of the Grand Cherokee. Clearly not intended as an off-road capable vehicle, the Wagoneer S had a low overall height of 64.8 inches. That was about three inches lower than a Cherokee, and seven inches lower than a Grand Cherokee. Ground clearance was 6.4 inches, or 0.9 inches higher than a Honda Accord.

Wagoneer S arrived in 2024 as the Launch Edition trim that used two electric motors for a combined 600 horsepower to move its 5,666 pounds. Batteries had a combined net capacity of 93.9 kWh, which made for an estimated range of 270 miles. Seating capacity was limited to five.

Styling existed somewhere in the intersection of Jeep Grand Cherokee and Range Rover Velar. The front end wore a tightly pulled Jeep Grand Cherokee-type clip, with the familiar Jeep slot grille and a light bar. Devoid of much detailing for aero reasons, the lower front end wore the same spear detailing of the restyled Grand Wagoneer that arrived in 2026. 

The side profile was largely devoid of detail, and without large WAGONEER badging could be confused for a Chevrolet Traverse or similar. One throwback to the original Wagoneer was to be found: The shape of the roof trim as it carried the D-pillar to the tailgate. Rear styling could be from any other crossover from Toyota or Hyundai, with a light bar in LED guise and 4xe badge that didn’t stand for 4xe. The model would clearly make more sense as a Grand Cherokee EV Sport or similar.

Inside, the Wagoneer S opted for minimalism like many EVs. There was a piano black dash with some lined texture, a couple of screens, and some matte black on the center console. The two-spoke steering wheel said Wagoneer in the middle, lest ye forget. 

Unlike Grand Wagoneer there was no quilted detailing on the seats, no wood, and very limited use of chrome trim. Door panels were trimmed with a gray X-pattern plastic trim. A large panoramic glass roof was fitted as standard. 

All 2024 Wagoneer S examples were Launch Edition trim, and in 2025 Jeep introduced the cheaper Limited trim. Its dual electric motors made 500 horsepower, and increased range to 303 miles with less aggressive Falken tires. The Limited asked $66,995, which was $5,000 less than the $71,995 of the Launch Edition.

Sales of the Wagoneer S totaled just 244 examples in its debut year of 2024. 2025 saw that increase to 11,554. There were leftovers on sale in 2026, where in Q1 175 additional examples were sold. Jeep announced it would “pace the production” of the model to work on battery performance and the model overall. A 2027 relaunch has been promised, but no revised Wagoneer S has been revealed to date.

And that brings us to current day Wagoneer, one of Jeep’s oldest model names in production as a singular model for now. Next time, we’ll take a look at the available historical sales figures by year and cover historical pricing information. It’ll be piecemeal, but we’ll see what we can cobble together to complete our Wagoneer story.

[Images: Stellantis]

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