GMC Yukon vs Jeep Grand Wagoneer

No longer General Motors' exclusive truck-only brand now that Buick has gone all-in on SUVs, GMC nevertheless holds a unique position in the automaker's product portfolio. Offering a lineup of "Professional Grade" trucks and SUVs with premium features, enhanced capabilities, and unique exterior and interior designs, GMC toes the line between Chevrolet and Cadillac.

Redesigned for the 2021 model year, the Yukon full-size SUV gets a standard 12-inch driver information center and enhanced connectivity for 2022, among other changes. The 2022 GMC Yukon is available in four trim levels: SLE, SLT, AT4, and Denali.

Given the brand’s war-fighting origins, the idea of a luxury Jeep seems a bit oxymoronic. But luxury SUVs that combine off-road capability with comfort and opulence are fairly common these days, and Jeep wants in on the action.

Resurrecting a name that dates back to 1984, the 2022 Jeep Grand Wagoneer is the automaker’s answer to the Cadillac Escalade, Infiniti QX80, and Lincoln Navigator. Like these rivals, the Wagoneer is a body-on-frame full-size SUV based on a more mainstream model. In this case, that’s the 2022 Jeep Wagoneer, which is also new for this model year (and is covered in a separate review).

Jeep considers the Grand Wagoneer and Wagoneer to be components of a new sub-brand, sitting atop the rest of its lineup. In addition to the Wagoneer name and a basic platform, both models share exterior and interior styling and many tech features. So there’s less to differentiate a Grand Wagoneer from a Wagoneer than, say, a Lincoln Navigator from a Ford Expedition. The relationship might be more like that of the GMC Yukon to the Chevrolet Tahoe.

To see if the Grand Wagoneer justifies its “grand” nomenclature, we drove it back to back with a standard Wagoneer, navigating New York City streets and off-road trails. The Grand Wagoneer launches in Series I, Series II, Series III, and Obsidian trim levels. Our test vehicle was the midlevel Series II version.