The Jeep Grand Wagoneer Concept Has Seven Screens For Some Reason

The Jeep Wagoneer is an American icon. Its revival needs to be suitably attention-grabbing, so FCA has sought to do this with the new production-previewing Grand Wagoneer concept by offering a lot. Of everything.

It’s big, it’s brash, it has seven seats - a Wagoneer first - and the same number of displays. Yep, it’s a proper screen-fest on the inside, with almost 45 inches of screen real estate spanning the dash.

The driver gets a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster, a 12.1-inch infotainment screen and a 10.25-inch ‘comfort’ display for climate controls and the like. The front passenger gets a 10.25-inch touchscreen, while those in the second row each get a 10.1-inch infotainment screen and a 10.1-inch ‘comfort’ screen to share.

All of that runs off FCA’s Android-based Uconnect 5 system, said to be five times faster than its predecessor. The sound system should be first-rate - for the Grand Wagoneer, American home audio brand McIntosh has made its automotive debut with a 24-channel, 23-speaker system.

You won’t find any exterior wood panelling on the outside as on Wagoneers of old, but there’s heaps of it on the inside. To go with the heat-treated lacewood, there are some more sustainable elements Jeep is keen to shout about, including carpets using something called ‘Thrive’ - a fibre made using recycled “post-consumer” recycled materials.

The exterior features the usual seven-slot Jeep grille, but here, the spaces between the slots are lit with LEDs for extra spangly-ness. Above that, you’ll find bronze ‘Wagoneer’ lettering, while either side there are LED light clusters with teak interior elements.

It’s a boxy thing featuring a big glasshouse, with the imposing aesthetic made all the more eye-popping thanks to the arch-filling 24-inch wheels. We suspect (and hope) the production version will roll on some more modestly-sized rims. No mechanical details have been revealed, with Jeep merely noting that the Grand Wagoneer has a “plug-in hybrid electric vehicle powertrain system”.

The production Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer will be built from next year in the Detroit metro area.