Jeep Won’t Sell the Wagoneer S EV Until It’s ‘Perfect’

After being the life of this last decade’s off-road party, Jeep has in the last few years suffered something of a hangover. With an aging lineup and slipping sales, dealers wound up swamped with hard-to-sell models and limited answers to the growing demand for electrified options. But Jeep’s electrifying fast, and its first EV—the Wagoneer S—is on the horizon. It could be one of the answers to what ails Jeep, or if it goes wrong, its biggest headache. And that’s why Jeep CEO Antonio Filosa says there will be “no launch if the quality isn’t perfect.”

So he said to Automotive News in an interview about Jeep’s near-term sales prospects. Filosa is the third person to occupy Jeep’s top executive spot in the last year, and enters at a time when not everything’s coming up roses. The brand has recently had to discontinue aging models with plummeting sales like the Cherokee and Renegade, and second-guess some of its complex trim structures. Yet the cheap models have seemingly been replaced with expensive ones like the Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer, with the electric Wagoneer S joining as part of that strategy. At this critical time, Jeep is understandably keen for its momentous first EV not to fall on its face like some new EVs have.

“It carries the responsibility of being a Jeep, number one, but also it carries the unique responsibility to be the first battery-electric vehicle for Jeep in the history of the North America market, which is the most important market,” said Filosa in the Automotive News interview. “I want perfect quality, and I know that we are close, but close is not good enough. Timing is important, but more important than that is to be perfect for the consumers that will give us the privilege to buy this car.”

As for those customers, they’ll be getting an EV that’s unlike any Jeep ever before it. Whether courting Range Rover buyers will work is questionable, but whether or not it’s a step in the right direction, it’s shaping up to be an interesting detour. And Jeeps are nothing if not good at going for a detour.

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