2014 Jeep Cherokee will keep Liberty designation in China... sort of

Wed, 17 Apr 2013

Chinese buyers will get their first live look at the 2014 Jeep Cherokee during the Shanghai Motor Show, but CarNewsChina is reporting that it will go by a different name – Ziyou Guan, which translates to "Liberty Light." The article states that our Jeep Liberty was never sold in China, but the iconic XJ Cherokee was sold and produced there as the Qinuoji (a phonetic translation of Cherokee).

The new Jeep Liberty Light will be built alongside the Fiat Viaggio (China's Fiat-badged version of the Dodge Dart) at the Guangzhou-Fiat plant, and the two models will share the same powertrains: a 1.4-liter turbocharged four-cylinder base engine paired to a five-speed manual or a dual-clutch transmission and a 2.4-liter four-cylinder (the base engine for the US-spec 2014 Cherokee) as an optional engine. It doesn't sound like the 3.6-liter Pentastar V6 will be offered in China.

We'll be on hand when the new Jeep debuts in Shanghai, so stay tuned to Autoblog this Friday night and Saturday for our live coverage of the show.

By Jeffrey N. Ross