You can no longer buy an SRT Hemi V8 in Australia

The Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT and Trackhawk have sold out for the foreseeable future, ending the availability of an SRT branded Hemi V8 in Australia...for now.

A spokesperson for Jeep says sustained high demand for both SRT Grand Cherokee variants has exhausted local stock, which we understand was already struggling under chip-shortage strains. The two performance SUVs have been deleted from the Jeep website.

6

This leaves the Grand Cherokee S-Limited as the sole V8-powered Jeep on sale today, and the market an engine short of another keenly-priced V8 after the Chrysler 300 SRT was pulled from showrooms earlier this year.

Jeep could not say when stock for the SRT Hemi might again become available, but the all-new Grand Cherokee's arrival might cut-off the time for a Grand Cherokee SRT and Trackhawk return in this model’s lifespan.

The 6.4-litre Hemi V8 that powered the SRT and SRT-8 versions of the Grand Cherokee has been a mainstay in Jeep’s performance range since the SRT-8 was introduced in 2006.

6

Powering the Grand Cherokee SRT-8 all those years ago the Hemi 6.4 first produced 313kW and 569Nm, before stepping up to 344kW and 624Nm in the upgraded WK-Series Grand Cherokee in 2012.

Jeep introduced the berserk supercharged 6.2-litre Hemi V8 powering the SRT Trackhawk in 2017 to rave reviews, with 522kW and 868Nm gifting the yank tank supercar-baiting acceleration.

MOTOR understands the new WL-series Grand Cherokee, as it’s known, will arrive towards the end of 2021.

6

It’s too early to confirm whether we’ll see another SRT Hemi V8 in the next generation Grand Cherokee. It is based on the Giorgio platform that underpins the Alfa Romeo Giulia and Stelvio. They both use a twin-turbo V6.

It’s widely speculated, however, the SRT brand will continue in the new model alongside a base variant powered by the 5.7-litre Hemi V8 from the current generation S-Limited. The engine also powers the Dodge Ram 1500.

The S-Limited arrived in 2019 as a limited edition before being instated permanently in the Grand Cherokee range. It produces 259kW/520Nm.

6

Sales for the Grand Cherokee have dropped to a fraction of their popularity several years ago.

In 2013, Jeep sold 12,931 Grand Cherokees. In 2014, it sold 16,582 GCs while last year in a COVID-ravaged 2020, it sold only 2870.