The new partnership, which will last until 2012, strengthens the close relations between FGA and Juventus. As well as controlling the Italian Series A football club, the Agnelli family is the largest shareholder in Fiat. Fiat's divisions have also sponsored the Juventus players' shirts. Upon receiving the cars, Mr Conte said: "The road to success is long and steep, but it is much more manageable thanks to the flagship Jeep's exceptional on- and off-road capabilities."

The Jeep Grand Cherokee has been the brand's flag bearer since the first generation arrived, and introduced the concept of the large SUV in 1992. The new fourth generation of a successful model - with 4 million global sales since launch - the top-of-the-range Jeep has been completely redesigned inside and out.

One of the main innovations on the new Jeep Grand Cherokee is the Quadra-Lift air suspension, which ensures optimum on- and off-road handling by enabling five maximum heights off the ground, ranging from 16.5 to 27 cm. Another innovation is the Selec-Terrain traction control system, which provides a choice of five drive modes from which to select the one that is most suited to a particular surface. The Quadra-Lift system comes as standard on the Overland version of the Jeep Grand Cherokee. Selec-Terrain comes as standard across the whole Jeep Grand Cherokee range.

The Jeep Grand Cherokee owes its off-road capabilities to the two sophisticated Jeep four-wheel-drive systems: Quadra-Trac II and Quadra-Drive II with electronic limited slip differential (ELSD). These are supported by Hill Descent Control, which controls speed on downslopes, and Hill Start Assist, which helps drivers during hill starts.

The Jeep Grand Cherokee range available in Italy features a 3.0-litre CRD MultiJet II turbodiesel engine and two petrol engines: the 3.6-litre V6 Pentastar and the 5.7-litre V8 with MDS. There are three trim levels available: Laredo, Limited and Overland.