Jeep's First Try At Diesels Came With A Little Help From Europe

Diesel is no longer a thing at Jeep as the company ended its experiment with the Ecodiesel engine late last year. While that V6 diesel was the torquey engine that Jeep fans had been waiting for, it wasn’t the first time the brand tried offering diesel models.

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Starting in 2005, the powers that be at Jeep wanted to test the waters with something new. This resulted in the first generation Jeep Liberty getting a diesel. Called the Liberty CRD, it was supposed to gauge the public’s response to the oil burning engine. The Liberty CRD was the first Jeep diesel since 1987.

Screenshot: Hondata97/MotorWeek YouTube

Power for the Liberty CRD came from a 2.8-liter turbocharged diesel I4 built by VM Motori in Italy. It made 160 horsepower and 295 lb-ft of torque, 60 more lb-ft than the gas powered V6. This was paired with a five-speed automatic transmission and a Command-Trac part time four-wheel-drive system. A full time system was available as an option.

Image: Jeep

Performance was decent. It could hit 60 mph in 10 seconds. And thanks to all that torque that was available from a low RPM, the Liberty CRD had a 5,000 pound towing capacity. Gas mileage wasn’t bad either at 22 mpg city/27 mpg highway. There wasn’t anything particularly special about the Liberty CRD though. Other than a “CRD” badge on the rear hatch, the diesel Liberty was identical to the gas powered ones. You could even have it in Sport and Limited trims. Initially, Jeep planned to only offer 5,000 units for the first year, but in the 16 months the model was offered in the U.S. over 11,000 were sold, each one with a starting MSRP of $25,125 or $27,355 for the Limited trim. The Liberty CRD was dropped for the 2007 model year due to federal emissions standards. At the same time Jeep decided to introduce another diesel model.

2008 Jeep Grand Cherokee CRDImage: Jeep

In ’07, Jeep introduced the Grand Cherokee CRD and the WK generation. Rather than go back to VM Motori for another diesel engine, Jeep went to its corporate owner/partner Mercedes-Benz for an engine. A 3.0-liter turbocharged diesel V6, it made 215 horsepower and a V8-like 376 pound-feet of torque that was available at a low 1,600 RPM. This torque also gave the Grand Cherokee CRD a 7,400 towing capacity. Fuel economy ratings were a decent improvement over the V6 and V8 gas powered Grand Cherokees at 18 mpg city/23 mpg highway.

Image: Jeep

Buyers could pair this engine with a five-speed automatic transmission and either rear or Jeep’s Quadra-Drive II four-wheel drive system. Performance was decent for what it was, with the Grand Cherokee CRD able to hit 60 mph in eight seconds. And like the Liberty CRD, styling compared to the gas powered models was identical save for a “CRD” badge.

The Grand Cherokee CRD wasn’t cheap though. Pricing started at $38,315 for the based CRD Limited 4X2. Pricing jumped to $45,145 for the CRD Overland 4X4. This price may have turned off some buyers as the take rate for the Grand Cherokee was low; in 2009, just eight percent of Grand Cherokee buyers went for the diesel. Another problem seemed to be the engine’s urea aftertreatment system.

Required for passing emissions, urea for diesels is notoriously expensive. Both of these combined caused Grand Cherokee chief engineer Phil Jansen to say that the brand was dropping the diesel option in 2010. Jansen also mentioned that the only way the brand would bring back the option was if diesel powered luxury SUV sales had a 15 to 20 percent market share which is kind of nuts. Just a few years later though Jeep would reverse course and offer the Ecodisel option on the WK2 Grand Cherokee before it was dropped in 2019. With the final Jeep diesel model being a limited edition Gladiator that was limited to 1,000 units, one has to wonder whether or not Jeep will ever bring another diesel engine to market. With the shift to electric and hybrid vehicles, it’s doubtful.