IT'S taken a while, but the Jeep Grand Cherokee finally seems to have found its market niche.
It offers decent space and comfort for five with formidable off-road ability and classy styling. You can't expect Audi fit and finish inside because you won't be paying Audi prices.
Those of you seeing a 3.0 CRD badge on the back of the Grand Cherokee will be forgiven for thinking that this is a carryover of the stalwart Mercedes-Benz common rail diesel unit and there will doubtless be many owners who still believe their Jeep is powered by a hunk of Swabian metal under the bonnet.
Instead, they'll be propelled by a unit built by Fiat in collaboration with VM Motori which generates a maximum power of 237bhp at 4,000rpm and torque of 550 Nm between 1,800 and 2,800rpm.
As well as the new powerplant, the Grand Cherokee also gets an all-new Quadra-Lift air suspension system and the Quadra Trac II four-wheel drive.
When tyre slippage is detected, as much as 100 per cent of available torque is instantly routed to the axle with the most traction.
Jeep has drawn inspiration from Land Rover in the fitment of its Selec-Terrain system, a dial in the centre console where the driver can choose between Rock, Sand/Mud, Snow, Sport and Auto settings and the vehicle then configures its all-wheel drive systems into the optimum configuration for the conditions.
Certain Grand Cherokee styling traits are instantly recognisable.
The trapezoidal wheel arches, the high waist and turret-like glasshouse continue but seem even more accentuated on this generation car.
The most noticeable change to the exterior styling is at the front, where the headlamps are now smaller and meaner looking, giving the Jeep a more focused and intense face.
The front valance can be easily unbolted if you're planning off-road excursions, but for those who keep their Grand Cherokee on tarmac, it improves the styling of the front end and offers benefits in terms of aerodynamic efficiency.
Although the latest Grand Cherokee could hardly claim to have been born to stable parentage, it has nevertheless scrubbed up well.
It's recognisably a Jeep, but still manages to usher in some new design language. The 3.0-litre engine is massively more efficient than its aging Mercedes predecessor and offers more power.
Air suspension has improved the Grand Cherokee's ability to tackle even more extreme trail ability and the introduction of the Selec-Terrain system means negotiating off-road hazards has never been simpler.
On-road ride and handling have also taken a step in the right direction.
Perhaps more impressive is the fact that in refusing to follow its erstwhile competitors in their dizzying reach upmarket, the Grand Cherokee now asks them some extremely awkward questions that, on a pure value for money basis, many would find impossible to answer convincingly.
As unlikely as it might seem, a big American SUV born from the wreckage of the credit crunch may well have found its time.
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