Jeep Grand Cherokee Diesel at Geneva

The 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee gets a new Diesel lump

We were beginning to wonder if Fiat had forgotten the 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee didn’t have a diesel option. Which would be a bit of a disaster for sales in Europe. Fortunately, with Geneva looming, they’ve remembered to fix the problem.

When the new Grand Cherokee landed last May we got details on the US engines – 3.6 litre Penstar V6 or a 5.7-litre HEMI V8 – and did ask whether, when Fiat got round to it, we’d see a tweaked version of the 3.0 litre Mercedes lump in the old Grand Cherokee or something from Fiat.

The answer is ‘Something from Fiat’, and that something is a new new 3.0-litre V6 turbodiesel – developed by VM Motori together with Fiat Powertrain – which will also get to see service in the new Chrysler 300C (Lancia Thema in the rest of Europe).

The 3.0 litre diesel gets Fiat’s MultiJet II and a Garret turbo and comes with 237bhp and 406lb/ft of torque. It will manage 34mpg with emissions of 218g/km, figures which are an improvement all round on the old lump.

We’d expected to read through Chrysler’s press release and find that the 237bhp diesel lump was the standard kit, and that Fiat would be offering a tweaked version with a bit more oomph. But unfortunately not.

Instead of a tweaked and more powerful version, the Grand Cherokee will come with a tweaked and less powerful version of the 3.0 litre turbodiesel with just 188bhp, which will come as standard on the lower-specced Laredo version of the Grand Cherokee. It will also be optional on the Limited.

All very sensible stuff for Europe, although we’re not too sure how arthritic the 188bhp is going to be. Chrysler say the new 3.0 litre turbodiesel will be available on the Grand Cherokee by the Summer.

But opt for the 237bhp version.

By Cars UK