Premiere showroom at Shanghai auto show 2013

2013-04-22 17:42

(China Daily)

Jeep Cherokee

Jeep's mid-sized SUV made its Asian premiere at the Auto Shanghai, further enriching Jeep's SUV selection in the country.

Jeep Cherokee will be locally made starting at the end of this year, said Michael Manley, president and CEO of the Jeep brand's global operations as well as CEO of the parent company Fiat-Chrysler's Asian operations.

Equipped with a 2.4-liter Tigershark four-cylinder engine, the model can produce peak power of over 135 kW and top torque of 232 Nm. The high-configuration variant is equipped with a 3.2-L Pentastar engine that can generate peak power of over 199 kW and top torque of 324 Nm.

A nine-speed automatic transmission that is being applied to SUVs in the segment for the first time gives it more advantages in terms fuel economy.

In 2012, Jeep's Chinese sales reached 72,000 units, up 100 percent year-on-year, making the country its second-largest market only after the United States, its home market.