The Jeep Renegade Will Soon Leave the U.S. and Canada
It’s the end of an era. Maybe not the most impactful or exciting era, but the end, nonetheless. Jeep is killing the Renegade in the U.S. and Canada after several years of declining sales, ending the run of its most affordable model.
To be fair, the Renegade was launched in 2015, and sales peaked just a year later. It’s been a downhill steam for the subcompact off-roader since then, so it’s not surprising to see Jeep pull the plug. The automaker is cutting the fat as it looks forward to higher-growth segments and EVs, but the Renegade isn’t going away altogether.
The Fiat 500X-based SUV will continue in the Asia Pacific region, Europe, Mexico, and South America, where the brand said the Renegade is “core to our business.” Cheaper, smaller off-roaders are massively popular south of the border, where they get other forbidden fruit like the Suzuki Jimny. The Jeep Cherokee departed earlier this year to make way for a new vehicle line at its Belvidere Assembly Plant in Illinois, which is expected to be a pickup truck.
Jeep has confirmed that it will begin rolling out new models in 2024 with the Recon EV and other models. The automaker has also noted that it will offer electrified variants of all models by 2025, so we expect significant growth of the 4xe brand over the next few years.
[Image: Jeep]
Become a TTAC insider. Get the latest news, features, TTAC takes, and everything else that gets to the truth about cars first by subscribing to our newsletter.
Chris grew up in, under, and around cars, but took the long way around to becoming an automotive writer. After a career in technology consulting and a trip through business school, Chris began writing about the automotive industry as a way to reconnect with his passion and get behind the wheel of a new car every week. He focuses on taking complex industry stories and making them digestible by any reader. Just don’t expect him to stay away from high-mileage Porsches.
More by Chris Teague
Comments
Join the conversation
How much did exchange rates affect this decision? The Renegade is imported from Italy. I'm wondering if that's what caused the price to reach within a few hundred of the much bigger Compass. Kind of a no-brainer to pick the larger, more modern vehicle.
Wholeheartedly agree that the Patriot was a total automotive abomination. I drove a rental from Florida to Tennessee and it was a brutal ride. The undersized engine simply wheezed and huffed without any heft whatsoever. The tiny 13-gallon fuel tank was just ridiculous on that size vehicle! It was so bad that I had to peel myself out of the thing when we reached our destination. Made a RAV4 feel absolutely cavernous by comparison!
Never drove a Renegade but I have no problem taking your collective description of it at face value.
Somehow it feels like that, the European management of Stellantis with the strong influence of Peugeot and Angelli -families is destroying Jeep's DNA. The most egregious example is the front-wheel-drive Jeep Avenger introduced in Europe, and according to rumors, more similar "toy cars" are coming, and of course only in electric form. It seems that Chrysler is the so-called third wheel in Stellantis.
Drove a rental Renegade in Florida. Tigershark engine vibrated like crazy at stoplights. Someone had bumped the plastic cladding and parts were ready to fly off at speed.
If you could pick one up on the cheap, you would give to your kid for college or trade school. Once they were earning a steady paycheck, it would be traded in a flash!!🚗🚗🚗