Since Fiat completed with the takeover of the American off-road legend Jeep, there were some rumours floating around regarding the direction the brand might take.
When you have such strong branding and history in off-roading as Jeep, it seems silly to turn your back on the market that made you famous.
The new Jeep Supermini SUV combines their own expertise in off – road vehicles with Fiats’ knowledge of the small family car market. The result is the Jeep compact Renegade – arguably the company’s most European-friendly model yet.
The two most striking things about this car are – although it’s an off-road vehicle, it’s also a small family car. Technically it’s a sub-compact, making it the smallest Jeep SUV yet.
The second significant thing is that it will be made in Italy, the first time a Jeep will be put into production outside its native North America.
A petite crossover
The car should be practical for families with an average boot space of 350 litres. It also comes with a range of emissions including a nine-speed automatic gear box and a six-speed dual clutch gear box. A six-speed manual will come as standard.
Jeep claims that this 4×4 system will be the toughest, most rugged available in the Renegade’s compact SUV segment, making it one of the only petite crossovers that can truly go anywhere.
It will be assembled in Fiat’s plant in Melfi, southern Italy, as part of the company’s strategy to utilise space in their unused factories. The car which had its first showing at this year’s Geneva Motor Show is expected to go on sale across Europe later this year with exports going to North America for sale early in 2015.
Fun and Quirky
The Renegade, which is about 7 inches shorter than the Jeep Patriot, will go head to head with the Nissan Juke and the KIA Soul for the ever-growing urban small car market. Its chunky bold looks are very much the hallmark of a Jeep, but it is also fun and quirky borrowing some of the charm of the Fiat 500L.
Although the Renegade does share some underpinnings with the Fiat 500L, it’s quite different in the way it’s packaged and set up. The seating position (front and back) is unique in the Renegade, and the steering wheel has actually been moved to provide the right driving position.
Underneath the bonnet it gets the latest offering from Fiat – a 138bhp 1.4 litre turbo petrol engine. It also comes with three diesel engines including a 116bhp 1.6 litre and two separate versions of a 2.0 litre.
Ambitious
From a technology and safety point of view this little car is on the ball – seven airbags will be standard along with a slew of electronic aids, from blind-spot and lane departure alerts to forward collision mitigation and rear cross-path detection.
A five-inch or 6.5-inch infotainment touchscreen will run the latest UConnect software and the driver’s display includes a customisable panel. Many of the optional extras are as yet unspecified.
The interior of the car is what jeep is calling Tek-Tonic – combining soft and tactile forms with rugged and functional details. The cabin shares a resemblance to the bigger Cherokee while integrating some of the Wrangler, notably the grab handle integrated into the passenger-side dash. All in all it makes for a good bit of design work and a very pleasing interior.
The company remain ambitious and plan to sell 1 million vehicles in 2014. A figure that may seem high, but not unrealistic when you take into account that the company shifted 731,565 models last year.
To help achieve this, the company say they will be increasing production of the Grand Cherokee. In spite of the impressive sales figures for last year, the plan to sell 1 million units this year has been met with some criticism.
Jeff Schuster, senior vice president of forecasting at LMC Automotive, said Jeep will hit 1 million in sales by 2020, but not this year. ”All the planets would have to perfectly align, even those we don’t yet know about, to hit the target in 2014, so we just don’t see that happening,” he said.
Photo credit : Telegraph.co.uk
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