Published:
2 April 2024The Renegade’s European production base is the old Fiat Sata plant in Melfi, Italy.
The facility is shared with the closely related Fiat 500X, but the Renegade is also more distantly related (via Fiat’s Small-Wide compact car platform) to the Fiat 500L and Fiat Tipo - both of which are no longer on sale. It shares its platform with the Fiat 500X and goes in search of a piece of the pie thus far enjoyed by the Mini Countryman, Renault Captur and Vauxhall Mokka – supermini-based small SUVs all.
Like all other Jeeps save for the Jeep Wrangler, it has a unitary or monocoque chassis and independent suspension at all corners.
Unlike others, it’s pretty diminutive – only just over 4.2m long, with a wheelbase of less than 2.6m – although a full complement of four passenger doors and two rows of seats make it a reasonably practical proposition.
From 2018-2022, Jeep offered European buyers 1.0- and 1.3-litre petrol engines, in the latter case with and without turbocharging, with and without four-wheel drive, and developing up to 188bhp. A 168bhp 2.0-litre diesel was removed from the range in 2022.
Now, the Renegade is simply offered in e-Hybrid guise with a 1.5-litre turbocharged petrol engine with 128bhp and 177lb ft, assisted by a 20bhp electric motor and a 48V battery.
