Non-compliance with safety regulations, plus high emissions, forced the 4×4 to be pulled from sale
The Jeep Wrangler is tipped for an eventual return to the UK market, but not before its safety and environmental credentials are improved.
The brand’s flagship 4×4 was recently withdrawn from sale because it was not compliant with the European Union’s GSR2 regulations. These concern the fitment of certain driver assistance and monitoring systems, as well as tougher cybersecurity requirements.
Its large CO2 output of 269g/km also undermined the case for keeping it on sale, with manufacturers having been incentivised to make swingeing cuts to their fleet emissions averages by the ZEV mandate.
Under the mandate, manufacturers can trade significant reductions in the total CO2 output of all the cars they sell each year for de facto EV ‘sales’. Each 167g/km saved can be used to offset one EV sale, so for each Wrangler that Jeep does not sell, parent company Stellantis effectively ‘sells’ 1.6 electric cars.
According to trade body the Society of Motor Manufacturers of Traders, car makers missed the mandate’s EV sales target in 2025 – the second year in a row. And with the EV sales target rising from 28% to 33% this year, pressure is mounting for manufacturers to make gains wherever they can to hit the goal. The fine for missing it is £12,000 per combustion-engined car sold over the threshold.
This year also marks the introduction of the Euro 7 emissions standard, which will for the first time regulate emissions from tyres and brakes, and in a wider range of conditions.
“In the short term, we have paused production under regulatory and responsible pressure, with the current CO2 output of [the Wrangler]. We’re not building any more this year,” Jeep UK managing director Kris Cholmondeley told Autocar. “What we’re not saying is that this car will not return in an evolved guise in the short to medium term. I don’t know what and when, but it’s such an iconic car.”
Asked how Jeep can maintain the positive sales momentum it has gathered over the past two years without its flagship model, Cholmondeley said: “Wrangler has been an enduring icon, but it has always been niche. That’s lovely for the heart – [but] in terms of the ongoing viability, a good brand can die by being too niche and not having a broader commercial appeal.
“Our job is to protect the core and the spirit and broaden the appeal. So I love Wrangler and everything it stands for, but I also love Avenger and Compass. They’ve got all that Jeep DNA running through them, but they’ve got much broader appeal. And for me, it’s about a balanced portfolio, rather than something that only speaks to the heart.”
Cholmondeley added that decisions have not yet been made on when the new Recon – an electric 4×4 adjacent to the Wrangler – will arrive in the UK, nor the new Cherokee or Wagoneer S. “Building cars in America in recent times has become more challenging in terms of short- to medium-term planning. We don’t have timings and details on those cars, so right now all my efforts are making sure that we maximise Avenger and Compass, because [they cover] 50% of the market.”
