Grand Cherokee ‘4x4 of the Year’

AUBURN HILLS, Mich.--The 2001 Jeep Grand Cherokee has won 4-Wheel & Off-Road’s “4x4 of the Year” award.

This is the eighth time a Jeep vehicle has been awarded Petersen’s 4-Wheel & Off-Road’s “4x4 of the Year”--more than any other manufacturer.

Initiated in 1983, the competition is open to all four-wheel drive vehicles with significant updates and performance differences from the previous year. The vehicles are tested for a full month, both in various on-road conditions and in severe off-road use. Vehicles are evaluated and scored on ride and drive, as well as empirical, mechanical, interior and exterior measurements.

The Grand Cherokee upstaged six rivals to clinch the award. The competition included the Chevrolet Silverado LT 2500HD, the Ford Explorer Sport Trac, the Ford F-150 Super Crew, the GMC Sierra 2500HD, the Mitsubishi Montero and the Nissan Frontier Crew Cab SC.

“This award is unique because of its single focus on only one ‘best of the best’ from all categories of product available in the 2001 4x4 marketplace,” said Rick Pewe, editor of 4-Wheel & Off-Road. “The intense competition in the light truck category over the past decade has made this award even more profound because of the sheer number of vehicles qualifying for this competition,” he said.

“With its on-road performance and handling, and its capabilities in treacherous off-road terrain, the 2001 Jeep Grand Cherokee is still king of the hill,” added Pewe.

In its inaugural model year, Jeep Grand Cherokee first won the 1993 4-Wheel & Off-Road’s competition, a second time in 1996 after its first substantial redesign, and again in 1998 with the high-performance Grand Cherokee 5.9 Limited. The most recent Jeep winner was the 1999 Grand Cherokee.

Full details of the award results will be available in Petersen’s 4-Wheel & Off-Road’s February 2001 issue.