If you are a lucky owner of a brand new Wagoneer or Grand Wagoneer you might have noticed it is lacking something: any Jeep badges. Not only are there no Jeep insignias inside or outside these SUVs, but even the owner’s manual and the window sticker are also devoid of the Jeep logo. So what is a Wagoneer? The truth is that this incarnation of Wagoneer is its own vehicle brand–and at the same time, it’s a subset of the Jeep brand.

Is a Grand Wagoneer a Jeep?

While the original Wagoneer was a high-end Jeep, the revived Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer carry no Jeep badging. That said, they are sold by specialists at Jeep dealerships and on the Jeep website.

Forbes defines Wagoneer as a “high-end sub-brand” of Jeep. This is similar to how Cadillac is a division of General Motors and Lincoln is a high-end sub-brand of the greater Ford Motor Company. Jeep may well have taken inspiration from these brands as it attempted to position its Wagoneer as a competitor to the Cadillac Escalade and the Lincoln Navigator.

While Jeep certainly builds some luxury SUVs, its personality is centered around its convertible 4×4–the iconic Wrangler. And the timeless Wrangler is a more Wild West than Park Avenue.

FCA’s Global President, Christian Meunier defined Wagoneer as a “premium extension of the Jeep brand.”

One thing that makes the Wagoneer case a bit more confusing is that this new sub-brand only offers one vehicle (albeit in multiple trims). Another confusing aspect of Wagoneer’s identity is that the brand is luxurious, but is a unique retro/outdoorsy take on luxury. This differentiates it from its luxury cousins: Chrysler and Maserati.

Is Wagoneer separate from Jeep?

At the moment, the Wagoneer sub-brand of Jeep is closely connected to Jeep. Wagoneers and Grand Wagoneers are represented by specially-trained Jeep salespeople in Jeep dealerships. If you want to purchase one online you will have to click on the Wagoneer tab on the Jeep website.

Someday, Wagoneer and Jeep may go their separate ways. The current Wagoneer shares as much engineering with Ram trucks and Dodge cars as it does with Jeep SUVs. Just like Ram trucks was once a subdivision of Dodge, a successful Wagoneer could someday become its very own brand.

It is unlikely that Wagoneer would ever be folded into Chrysler. Even though Chrysler is a luxury brand, it is not an SUV company. It is most likely that Chrysler and Wagoneer will co-exist as parallel upsells–similar to Cadillac and GMC.

Who owns Jeep now?

Jeeps history is a long story of mergers and acquisitions. Today, it is one of 16 brands united as Stellantis. This conglomerate–created by a 2021 merger of FCA and Peugeot–is headquartered in the Netherlands.

The original Jeep was built by the Willys company for the Allied troops in WWII. Willys launched the Civilian Jeep (CJ) after the war, and it has evolved into the Wrangler. First AMC bought Jeep, then Chrysler Corporation acquired the company in 1987. In 2008, Fiat and Chrysler merged to form FCA. Finally, FCA and Peugeot created Stellantis.

Jeep and the other former Chrysler brands are now equals among the many marques of Stellantis. The one interesting exception to this structure is Wagoneer being designated a sub-brand of Jeep. The long and short of it is that Wagoneer is probably still too small for Stellantis to treat it as its own brand, so Wagoneer is a “premium extension” of Jeep. And this isn’t a bad position for the newborn brand, marketing-wise. If Wagoneer proves a success, we may see it spin off. But we’ll just have to wait to find out.

Next, learn how the Grand Wagoneer’s tow rating leads its class or watch the Wagoneer reviewed in the video below: