Jeep Consolidates Patriot/Compass Starting In 2014
Buyers hankering for a more macho alternative to the Buick Encore won’t have to wait too long for something to fill that void. According to Edmunds, an all-new Jeep, similar in size to the Encore, will debut next year.
The Jeep Compass and Patroit will both die in 2014 to make room for a B-segment Jeep built in Italy using a Fiat platform. The most likely donor will be the Small Wide architecture being used for the Fiat 500L, which has provisions for an all-wheel drive system built in to it. It’s a safe bet that it will be very similar to the Fiat 500X (above). Jeep’s Mike Manley cited global markets as the driving force behind this product
“The weight of that market today is outside North America, predominately Europe,” said Manley. “It is growing in China. I think when we launch our SUV here, you are going to see quite significant growth in that segment in the U.S.”
As Manley notes, the small SUV segment is explosive in world markets. Most of the examples sold are two-wheel drive car based vehicles with zero off-road capability, but Europeans couldn’t care less. That means the whole “Trail Rated” business won’t be an issue in Europe, but the Jeep faithful here may have something to say about that.
More by Derek Kreindler
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The new CUV looks better than the picture... don't ask me why I know..
This FiJeep will have to be perfect to sell in the US. Most Compass and Patriot buyers would not have made the same choice if the vehicle was foreign-made.
Imho, these very small, very tall SUV's are designed to sell, for the most part, in places where people are generally somewhat smaller in stature than in the USA, Australia and northern/central Europe (average male 5 ft. 10 inches or more). I did some research (admittedly from a secondary source - Wikipedia) that suggested that the average height of males in many car markets is 3+ inches less than this and 2+ inches less than in the European Romance language speaking countries. These smaller stature countries include: China (PRC), India, Thailand, Mexico, Egypt, Japan, Iran, Malaysia, Vietnam, Nigeria, Peru, the Philippines and Indonesia. Making the little SUV's tall allows the occasional larger passenger to fit without discomfort, at least for a while. Know your customer and serve his/her needs. They got little hands Little eyes They walk around Tellin' great big lies They got little noses And tiny little teeth They wear platform shoes On their nasty little feet Well, I don't want no short people Don't want no short people Don't want no short people `Round here Short people are just the same As you and I (A fool such as I) All men are brothers Until the day they die (It's a wonderful world) Short people got nobody Short people got nobody Short people got nobody To love They got little baby legs That stand so low You got to pick em up Just to say hello They got little cars That go beep, beep, beep They got little voices Goin' peep, peep, peep They got grubby little fingers And dirty little minds They're gonna get you every time Well, I don't want no short people Don't want no short people Don't want no short people 'Round here Words and music by Randy Newman, circa 1985
"places where people are generally somewhat smaller in stature than in the USA, Australia and northern/central Europe" Nothing has changed over the last 100 years. Was it Neville Chamberlain who just before WWI pondered "the little 5-foot-six nations" and their scrabble to catch up with the tallboys? I think he was referring to the Balkans and Mediterranean. Lo and behold, a century later and the "wogs" may yet bring europe down.