The 2026 Jeep Cherokee Is Back! Jeep Reveals Exterior Design, Confirms Launch Later This Year

The Jeep Cherokee will return, though we don’t have too many technical details yet.

Behold, the next-generation Jeep Cherokee! In an announcement Thursday, Jeep confirmed the arrival of a sixth-generation model, as a follow-up to the Cherokee KL that went out of production in 2023. The automaker says this midsize SUV has been “reimagined from the ground up” and will offer a new “efficient and powerful hybrid propulsion option”.

Of course, Jeep hasn’t delved into any specifics on any of the powertrain options coming to the 2026 Cherokee lineup just yet. It’s possible (if not likely) the 2.0-liter “Hurricane” inline-four will come into the mix as part of a hybrid setup, but we’ll have to wait and see how engineers develop and tune the specific setup for the next-gen Cherokee.

Stellantis has been moving its newer vehicles onto its mixed-energy “STLA” platforms, and the 2026 Jeep Cherokee will be no exception. This KM generation should ride on the company’s STLA Large platform, which underpins the Wagoneer S and the all-electric, Wrangler-adjacent Recon.

Taking a look at the new Cherokee

Then there’s the exterior styling, which is the other major aspect Jeep teased for the 2026 Cherokee alongside the powertrain discussion. If you saw the new (Europe-only) Compass, then you’ll probably pick up on the new design language at play here and catch the resemblance between the two SUVs. Up front, you still have the classic seven-slotted grille, flanked by relatively thin LED headlines with side markers that cut into the upright fenders. On the whole, the 2026 Jeep Cherokee adopts a boxier, more upright look that Jeep’s been going for with some of its latest models, though size-wise it looks pretty similar to the old Cherokee KL.

The new Cherokee’s lower fascia also has a lot more going on, with chunky black cladding and a large lower grille with two trapezoidal trim elements. There aren’t fog lights there (those are far out to the sides, below the headlights), but it looks like their placement could potentially support recovery hooks on an off-road focused Trailhawk model.

Eagle-eyed Jeep fans probably noticed that neither of these cars sport a “Trail Rated” badge. So, that could just be down to these images being pre-production renderings of what the final product will look like, or (perhaps more likely) Jeep is still holding out a more aggressive Trailhawk model to reveal at a later date.

Again, we’ll have more information in the coming months, and at that point we won’t have to guess what Jeep is planning here. The brand’s Thursday announcement says the all-new 2026 Cherokee is set to arrive in late 2025, so we’ll likely see those additional details this fall. Beyond that, we might see the 2026 Jeep Cherokee make an appearance at this year’s Los Angeles Auto Show.

Correction 5/29/2025: An earlier version of this article mentioned the Cherokee would potentially have ICE, hybrid and electric powertrains. Jeep has only confirmed the hybrid, and mentioned that its lineup spans ICE models, hybrids and full electric models, so that was a misinterpretation of Jeep’s statement with regard to its background. Apologies for the error!