GM continues to succeed in the full-size SUV segment with products like the Chevy Tahoe, GMC Yukon, and Chevy Suburban, while crosstown rival Stellantis is fielding the Wagoneer. Naturally, GM is keen to gather intel on its closest rivals, and now, GM Authority has caught GM benchmarking the Wagoneer in the following spy photo.
The photo was taken at the North-South Straight at the GM Milford Proving Grounds in Michigan.
The 2023 Wagoneer is available in several different trim levels, including the standard Wagoneer, Series II, Carbide, and Series III. Customers can also upgrade to a long-wheelbase L model across the range, adding an extra 12 inches in overall length and an extra 7 inches to the wheelbase for expanded passenger and cargo room.
Engine options include either a naturally aspirated 5.7L V8 gasoline engine, or the twin-turbocharged 3.0L inline six-cylinder “Hurricane” gasoline engine. The V8 is rated at 392 horsepower and 404 pound-feet of torque, while the boosted six-cylinder is rated at 420 horsepower and 468 pound-feet of torque. Both powerplants connect to an eight-speed automatic transmission as standard, with rear-wheel drive as standard, and four-wheel drive as optional.
With regard to sales, the Wagoneer trails GM’s products by a considerable margin. During the 2022 calendar year, U.S. sales in the Mainstream Full-Size SUV segment were dominated by the Chevy Tahoe, which posted 105,756 units sold during the time period. The Ford Expedition trailed in second with 62,007 units sold, while the Chevy Suburban rounded out the top three best in-segment sales with 50,951 units sold. The Wagoneer was fifth in-segment with 36,219 units sold, trailing the GMC Yukon, which posted 48,220 units sold.
Sales Numbers - Mainstream Full-Size SUVs - 2022 - United States
| MODEL | YTD 22 / YTD 21 | YTD 22 | YTD 21 | YTD 22 SHARE | YTD 21 SHARE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CHEVROLET TAHOE | -0.26% | 105,756 | 106,030 | 30% | 30% |
| FORD EXPEDITION | -24.37% | 62,007 | 81,988 | 17% | 23% |
| CHEVROLET SUBURBAN | +5.68% | 50,951 | 48,214 | 14% | 14% |
| GMC YUKON | -6.12% | 48,220 | 51,365 | 14% | 14% |
| JEEP WAGONEER | +577.12% | 36,219 | 5,349 | 10% | 1% |
| GMC YUKON XL | +3.67% | 34,084 | 32,877 | 10% | 9% |
| NISSAN ARMADA | -47.74% | 11,923 | 22,814 | 3% | 6% |
| TOYOTA SEQUOIA | -34.15% | 5,314 | 8,070 | 1% | 2% |
| TOTAL | -0.63% | 354,474 | 356,707 |
That said, Wagoneer sales have increased considerably, up 577 percent year-over-year.
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Comments
Why? They have low quality drive trains.
so your saying GM dont have any issues with thier V8’s blowing up
Because these are incredibly nice vehicles. They weren’t screwing around when they were designed.
Has to be the most bland 1960s design rear end.
Our park walking friends had to have their full size jeep suv transmission rebuilt at 75000 miles. They drive their vehicles like old folks. Now they just traded it in just 2 weeks later for a GMC Acadia. They don’t tow anything. Early ransmission failure for a chrysler trans? Hmmm?
The wagoneer was just introduced last year. “They drive like old folks AND have 75k miles on a Wagoneer”? Sounds like your friends DON’T have a Wagoneer. Nice try.
Right… BTW its GM that has a Lawsuit pending forthier Transmissions
That has been typical for years.
The ZF 8 speed is one of if not the best in the industry. A failure there is pretty rare. Sometimes driving like old man is worse, taking it to redline on occasion is good, increases the hot fluid and gets it moving faster to clean out small orifices. Some of the most babied engines and drivetrains run the worse, you see that in the performance world often.
Chrylser doesn’t put their own transmission in much these days. They use the ZF variants in almost everything, and that transmission is best in class. Certainly 10 times better than the GM 8 speed.
Why? Is GM trying to make their vehicles less reliable?
They should open the rear door of the wagoneer, sit down in the seat, push the little button that symbolizes a seat with a fan, feel the air on their behind.. then think hmmmm maybe we should offer this on our 100k plus SUV’s.
Already do, my 2019 Equinox Premier has heated and ventilated leather seats.
This is not in Full size SUV.s The Escalade is Junk in the rear compared to the Wagoneers.
“REAR SEATS”…
With its coffin styling, the Wagoneer is the perfect Halloween SUV, and sells accordingly.
Please gm offer us a 2 row for us who have no need want or will ever have a use a 3rd row I want payload and towing
I look at the 2 vehicles at the bottom of the sales chart. Nissan Armada and Toyota Sequoia? Nobody buys these POS trucks for good reason.
The Armada is doomed because the Titian is no longer going to be built. The Sequoia shares the same chassis as the Tundra so they can justify the low numbers. GM large SUV’s are number one for a reason, I wish they would bring the two door 5 passenger back.
the Reason is
1. Triplettes. its 3 Version of the same SUV. even some Trims of the Two top tier SUVs Clash (Denali Platinum whatever and Escalade)
2. Government Contracts
There is a reason GM is benchmarking this vehicle because they feel that the Wagoneer could poise a potential threat salewise in the future. The Wagoneer is better than the Expedition and equal to the Tahoe in drivability.
They are seeing what is working and not working for the Wagoneer and does not mean that they will copy every single thing but to see what they can improve upon with their current offering by comparing. So it is a common practice that all automakers benchmark and compare competition and does not matter if the competitor is less reliable than your product.
GM is not worried about the transmission of the Wagoneer. GM has one of the best transmissions in the business if anyone is concerned.
Jeep reliability doesn’t even come close to GM.
They have the ZF 8 speed which is pretty much the gold standard in the automotive industry. The GM 10 speed is fantastic and almost as good, but that ZF 8 speed is gold. The GM 8 speed with the new fluid is up there as well. GM makes great drive trains but Chrysler outsourcing the transmission from their failed transmission days was key and they went to the top for the best in that department.
Is it too late to benchmark Yugo?
I think it looks fine. It’s a Jeep, and to its credit, it looks like a modernized one. It has successfully hit the market exceeding the expectations of many. It will do its part to solidify the Jeep brand image..
I would have liked them to have done a modernized version of the old iconic Wagoneer – a truly distinctive vehicle. Along the lines of how the new Bronco is a modernized version of the old style would have been a better choice.
The new Wagoneer is nice, but I find it rather bland. After the initial pent up demand for a decades-out-of-production iconic brand vehicle is exhausted, sales will most likely drop significantly.
Just purchased a grand Wagoneer series 3 after driving a Denali ultimate . Sorry gm but your interior , seats and mega plastic pieces didn’t do it for me . Lack of sound isolating windows , 2row full size console and 505 hp that gets same mileage as your 420 hp powertrain . Gm now realizes that it has to play catch up in the interior , just saying /
Perhaps they are re-evaluating their decision to axe the turbo straight-six? The wagoneer is the only Stellantis vehicle that comes stock with one of those so far. Better mileage and more power is a pretty good selling point. Personally, I’m thrilled to see the return of the straight 6s.
Has anyone looked at the reliability rating of the gm offerings? Terrible! We had a 2016 Yukon XL Denali, it was beautiful and I had always dreamed of owning a suburban. That thing was anything but reliable. It was in the shop multiple times for engine and transmission work. Oh yeah what about the constant shaking when driving down the road gm had no interest in trying to remedy? Hughely disappointing between the constant issues and the way the gm dealerships treat you I had to switch to an expedition. Grand Wagoneer L is beautiful and has me looking real hard, gms reliability is lowest on their priority list unfortunately so yeah they should be concerned about the Wagnoeer.
Hopefully they do not look at the styling. The big Jeeps have the WORST proportions out there. Ungainly!
I think GM is benchmarking ride quality along with interior design and materials, which are the Wagoneer’s strong suite. It’s good to know GM is making sure to keep abreast of the competition.
Wagoner sales increased because you could a complete vehicle and they were on the dealer lots, not held up because of parts and chip shortages. Besides, it’s also a nice vehicle.
Lol, a niche vehicle , cmon seriously . If it was a niche vehicle why would gm be benchmarking it . And the grand Wagoneer has way more tech in it than an ultimate or Escalade , just saying .