The Hemi V-8 is alive and well in the house of Jeep, as CEO Bob Broderdorf confirmed in a media briefing on Thursday that the Wrangler 392 will continue indefinitely, and the Gladiator will gain a Hemi powertrain.
“Jeep fans, don't worry, the 6.4-liter Hemi V8 will have a home at Jeep,” Borderdorf said. “We will extend the availability of the 392 on Wrangler, and in fact, we will tap the power and performance of the Hemi across Jeep products... so Wrangler and Gladiator fans and Hemi fans in general, don’t worry.”
Jeep originally announced the death of the Hemi V-8 in the Wrangler when the 2024 “Final Edition” came out, only to go back on that by extending production into the 2025 model year. There’s nothing “final” about the Final Edition anymore, though, as Jeep plans on producing the Wrangler with its powerful V8 engine for years to come.
Even more exciting than the Wrangler 392 news, however, is Broderdorf strongly hinting that the Gladiator will soon be home to the same 6.4-liter V8 as its Wrangler cousin. It’s seemed like a no-brainer for years now, but Jeep looks to be on the precipice of putting its big engine in its midsize pickup.
Road & Track pulled Broderdorf aside to chat more about the importance of the V8 to the Jeep lineup and why it’s diving headfirst into more cylinders.
“What hardcore Jeep guy wouldn't want more power in a Jeep,” Broderdorf says. “I go off-road and I can do it with some power? Why is that not great?"
“You don’t need to make only cars that are completely fuel-efficient and aerodynamic,” Broderdorf continues. “It needs to be Jeep. It needs to go back to our roots, and having Hemis as powertrain solutions is a very, very fun thing to do with it.”
Jeep believes the demand is there for its customers to buy more V-8-powered off-roaders, citing brand experiences where tons of owners asked for a V-8 in the Gladiator.
“Powertrains are the heart and soul of cars,” Broderdorf says. “That is what needs to be there in order to give the experience we need. Having one set of powertrains isn’t enough. So there’s a number of products that I’m very interested in to bring more of those personalities powertrains provide... I don’t mind throwing a bigger engine in a car and having some fun.”
Could there be even more models beyond the Wrangler and Gladiator with a V-8? We asked Broderdorf, but he wasn’t willing to specify any additional eight-cylinder entrants. Obvious answers would be the Grand Wagoneer and Grand Cherokee, since both those SUVs once offered V-8 powertrains.
But what about the Hellcat? Road & Track queried Broderdorf about the supercharged V-8 that was just reported to return to availability in the Ram lineup. It was offered in the Grand Cherokee as the Trackhawk up until 2021, but there hasn’t been the slightest hint of this performance variant returning in the current generation of Grand Cherokee.
“We’ll just leave it at Hemi today,” Broderdorf said. “We’ll just hold that for right now.”
Sorry, Hellcat fans. While the naturally aspirated V-8s appear to have a home in Jeeps for a long time yet, there’s no news on an imminent arrival of a Hellcat-powered model.
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