Jeep recently invited Off-Road.com to Los Angeles for a lunch at the Automobile Driving Museum. Jeep decided to gather some of the automotive media to highlight some of its 2011 vehicles, including the all-new 2011 Grand Cherokee. Chris Ellis, head of marketing for the Jeep brand, was on hand to walk us through some of the features of the new vehicles. We had the chance to meet Ellis at last year’s Easter Jeep Safari in Moab, Utah. Jeep has kept a relatively low profile in the past year, which Ellis noted that other than the launch of the new Grand Cherokee, the company has been a little quiet … on purpose.

With a new CEO and a clear direction to become the leader in SUV sales, Ellis noted that Jeep has decided to let its vehicles do the talking. So far, the Jeep brand has been doing well. Sales are up 17 percent internationally from last year, and the Chrysler Group LLC has had two consecutive quarters of positive earnings. Ellis pointed out that the plan moving forward is to stay core to the Jeep brand of excellent off-road capability but extend the reach by improving fuel economy and on-road handling.

Of the vehicles Jeep is offering in 2011 (they had both the Patriot and Wrangler on hand as well), none have garnered more attention than the all-new Grand Cherokee. The off-road SUV features new independent front and rear suspension, 19 percent more storage in the rear, 4 more inches of leg room for the backseat, “keyless and go” entry, and even a ear hatch glass that opens independently from the rear cargo door.

Aside from all of this, the Jeep also has a great deal of adaptability to different uses with its new Selec-Terrain system, allowing users to adjust to changing road conditions. The new Quadra-Lift Air Suspension is the first found on an SUV, as the closed-type air suspension system allows for five height settings for optimum performance, with 2.6 inches of additional height available to five the Grand Cherokee 10.7 inches of ground clearance.

Check out the below video from the Off-Road.com YouTube page of Ellis discussing some of the features of the 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee.

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