2026 Jeep Cherokee

The Cherokee holds a special place in the heart of Jeep loyalists thanks to its adventure-ready capability and a legacy that goes back decades. Its life has been on pause for the past few years, however, when the model went radio silent after the 2023 model year. Thankfully, it still has stories to tell and experiences to create with an all-new model just around the corner. Jeep says the 2026 Cherokee “honors its rich history with an innovative eye toward the future.” Much about the 2026 Jeep Cherokee is still to be announced, but we know it will offer a hybrid powertrain and will slot between the larger Grand Cherokee and smaller Compass when it arrives in late 2025.

The Jeep Cherokee is all-new for the 2026 model year, featuring fresh design and technology, plus a hybrid powertrain. The 2026 Jeep Cherokee is set to go on sale in late 2025.

While official pricing is still a ways off, we can make an educated guess of its starting price from its place in the Jeep lineup. We estimate the 2026 Jeep Cherokee will start in the low $30,000 range. That would slot it between the roughly $38,500 starting price of the Grand Cherokee and the sub-$29,000 figure of the Compass.

The compact SUV segment is the most popular and most competitive there is. That means the new Jeep Cherokee will be facing competitors spanning from the best-selling Honda CR-V and Toyota RAV4 — which will go hybrid-only in 2026 — to rivals that also have a more rugged and adventurous spirit such as the Subaru Forester, Mazda CX-50, and GMC Terrain. All start in the low $30K range. Rivals such as the CR-V, RAV4, CX-50, Forester, Hyundai Tucson, and Kia Sportage also offer hybrid powertrains, just like the 2026 Jeep Cherokee.

The 2026 Jeep Cherokee will remain a 2-row/5-passenger SUV. We’ve yet to see inside it, but if current Jeep interior trends hold, it should be a nice place with a fine balance of utility and technology. We’re fans of Jeep’s Uconnect infotainment systems and screens. And we can only dream that the wonderful, high-end McIntosh audio system available in the Jeep Grand Cherokee could trickle down to the Cherokee.

Not surprisingly, from our first glimpses of the 2026 Cherokee, it looks like a downsized version of the Grand Cherokee. We count this as a win. Jeep’s teaser images of the 2026 Cherokee show a big and bold grille, slightly boxy design, aggressive LED headlights, and an available two-tone color option with a black roof. We can’t wait to see it in person.

Jeep has yet to reveal what exactly will power the Cherokee, except to say it will offer “a new, efficient and powerful hybrid propulsion option from Jeep.” We would expect the powertrain to have at least 200 horsepower to remain competitive with rivals. In the past, front- or all-wheel drive was offered in the Cherokee, but all-wheel drive became standard in its last model year and is standard in the smaller Compass. So it might make sense for this new model to have all-wheel drive standard as well, just like rivals the Subaru Forester and Mazda CX-50.

If the Jeep Cherokee follows in the footsteps of its cousin, the Dodge Hornet, which is available as a plug-in hybrid or gasoline-only, it will use a traditional geared transmission vs. a continuously variable automatic transmission (CVT).