There is an official statement from Chrysler (below), which is a little ambiguous, but it means that the 'recovery hook' is for on-road use only. It is not suitable for off road recovery.

HI can't fined the thread can you supply more details please Peter

The document I referred to is a Dodge Chrysler Jeep National Dealer Bulletin. No 10/2012
It may be sleight of word.....
For those that are interested it states (in part):
"All 2012MY and beyond Jeep Grand Cherokee vehicles will no longer come equipped with the fixed front recovery tow hooks. This is due to the Pedestrian Protection requirements of the Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP) rating system, and future potential Australian regulatory requirements (as are in place in Europe).
There is now a removable screw in tow eye in place of the front permanently mounted recovery hooks. The tow eye is included with the vehicle jack and is approved for use in vehicle recovery in off-road situations (as highlighted in the handbook). Refer below for installation instructions.
Note: the vehicle structure where the 2011MY tow hooks were installed has changed substantially; as a result it is not possible to retro-fit the 2011MY tow hooks onto a 2012MY vehicle."

For those that want the bulletin check out my previously posted link.

I agree with the comments the eye looks light, Jeep may be having a bet each way here hoping to put the fires out.

Taking the bulletin on its own - "approved for recovery in off-road situations" is clear.
Reading the handbook (I think Marc's info is from the handbook) and taking their example "removing a vehicle from the roadside" is contrary to general use of "off road" here in Aus (I reckon anyway).
Hmmmm

Thanks. Not very happy will thinking about what to do next

I agree the screw in "tow" hooks would not be suitable. I know of them being available on other vehicles and look like not suitable for anything more than flat towing. besides I would highly recommend one on each side to expel any weakness in the chassis!
If you're stuck in mud and trying to get pulled upwards, then you'd need to be confident!

Hi All Hear is the last email I recieved from State Sales manager very interesting

The factory is not supplying us 2012 Grand Cherokee with the mounting brackets. As mentioned in the last email that due to the
Pedestrian Protection requirements of the Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP) rating system, this is how they come from factory.

Since our first conversation we have been informed from the factory that the tow eye hook can be used for recovery (ie putting on a tray truck)

We have been trying to source someone who can make modifications, that will not affect both ADR & ANCAP requirements but as yet this has not happened. This is an issue that we have raised with the factory to see if they can re-design the front bumper bar, but we keep coming back to the ANCAP issue.

I can confirm that these issues have been raised to the highest level in Australia and USA and we are still in communication about this particular issue. If there are any new developments that will assist in getting tow hooks on the front of your Grand Cherokee, I will let you know.

Hi All,

I have just been looking into a new car and am very close to settling on the GC as I am impressed with what it has to offer for the price and the ability to take it off-road (mainly beach and sand driving like, stockton and Fraser Island).

However as much as I might rate myself and the car as being 4WD capable it is ridiculous to think that there would never be a situation where the car might get bogged and need to be pulled out from the front.

The dealer I spoke to sent me an email with a note from Product strategy, dated 19 Jan, talking about the Tow eye being suitable for roadside recovery (i.e. not a 4WD recovery). Until there is a solution I don't think I will be able to make the leap to this car (and it seems so right in almost every other way), as that could be a major problem if you got stuck somewhere.

I am not prepared to leap in and hope for a solution as all the references they keep making to Ancap and the changed bumper seems to indicate there is no easy fix and I therefore the solution to this (if any) could become very costly to the owner, so will wait and hope they come up with a solution.

The dealer mentioned there is a new nudge bar which will be available for the MY2012 due in March, but didn't know if they would provide any solution for recovery.

I will watch this forum to see if anything comes up. Keep up the pressure on them as I think the car seems otherwise great.