New small Jeep SUV in 2013

[haven]

British auto magazine Autocar is reporting that Jeep will offer a new small SUV in 2013. A Jeep executive attending the Geneva auto show said that the new model will ride on a modified Fiat platform, will have diesel and gas engine options, and will offer FWD or 4x4.

The new model will be smaller than the current Compass SUV. It will compete with vehicles like the Nissan Juke and MINI Cooper. There was no mention of a diesel version for USA.

http://www.autocar.co.uk/News/NewsArticle.aspx?AR=255674

 

[bldeagle10]

my first reaction to this was "F$(% Mercedes!"
unless its a mini wrangler its going to be lame.
im not a fan of mercedes at all and the fact the new grand cherokee is based off a mercedes M-Class chassis really grinds my gears...

 

[Bennyhana]

Hopefully it will be a rebadged fiat panda. Those things are pretty cool.

 

[steve0]

Amen to the Panda 4x4. A look at youTube shows the earlier version doing some amazing things. It looks like they'll climb trees. Thousands of miles of the Paris-Dakar rally run by nearly-stock Pandas isn't too shabby either. That little engine sure does rev in the videos....

As to the small size, WWII Jeeps started out at a curb weight of about one ton (assuming they could they find a curb). They've bulked up to twice that, so a small, nimble version sounds good to me. Very high fuel mileage sounds great, too.

Reading the cited article doesn't give much to go on. Will they be rebadging the Fiat, or what?

 

[scarysharkface]

Panda would be cool, especially 4x4 diesel.

 

[haven]

The Autocar article says the Fiat model that will be modified to become a Jeep is the Grande Punto:

The Grande Punto is a thoroughly modern European hatchback. It's a competitor for vehicles like the VW Golf and Ford Fiesta. With modified sheet metal so it looks like the Grand Cherokee and some sort of AWD, the Grande Punto will make a great replacement for the Patriot and the Compass.

I know there are some Jeep fans who think all Jeeps have to be Wranglers. However, to survive financially, Jeep dealers need a modern, inexpensive sporty SUV to sell alongside the Wrangler.

 

[RedDog]

Hopefully it will be a rebadged fiat panda. Those things are pretty cool.

This baby with the slotted grill and round headlights would have my attention with 4WD and a diesel. Events overseas aren't going to see fuel prices going down and the configuration I describe would be an ideal winter commuter where I live.

 

[bldeagle10]

The Autocar article says the Fiat model that will be modified to become a Jeep is the Grande Punto:

The Grande Punto is a thoroughly modern European hatchback. It's a competitor for vehicles like the VW Golf and Ford Fiesta. With modified sheet metal so it looks like the Grand Cherokee and some sort of AWD, the Grande Punto will make a great replacement for the Patriot and the Compass.

I know there are some Jeep fans who think all Jeeps have to be Wranglers. However, to survive financially, Jeep dealers need a modern, inexpensive sporty SUV to sell alongside the Wrangler.

i personally dont like the idea. i would despise the fact if they made it AWD instead of 4x4. if i saw a few concepts im sure my mind would change but i know it will not be something that im expecting. it would be cool if they brought back those mini wranglers but im not one of those wrangler guys. im a fan of variation, as long as its in moderation. i dont think they should come out with some little street jeep like the 2wd compass and such. it just defeats the purpose of owning a jeep and regardless of financial issues, its a disgrace in my mind to willys and amc. i cant imagine jeep being financially hurting that bad. in my area "peoria/prescott az" you litterally cant drive a mile without seeing a jeep. they are extremely abundant.

 

[ihatemybike]

I don't mind Jeep coming out with an AWD car, but it has to be done right. Straight up, it has to be a Subaru fighter and they need to get it out on the rally circuit as quickly as possible. Only then would I truely find a car worthy of the Jeep name.

 

[Storz]

Give it a capable AWD system with a low range gear and a diesel and you have a winner, don't do that and its no different than any of the other "soft roaders" out there

 

[haven]

Jeep already sells a small vehicle for the off-road enthusiast (the 2 door Wrangler), so there's no need to make another vehicle to serve this limited market. The new small SUV will be a mall cruiser with some slippery road capability, rather than a rock hopper.

The Grande Punto platform is front wheel drive, so I think the AWD version will have some sort of viscous coupling between front and rear wheels that automatically engages when the front wheels slip, like the Honda CR-V has.

 

[steve0]

I dunno... the Panda is a capable in-town and offroad performer, and Jeep apparently toyed with the idea of importing it. The Punto, though, seems like just another car. Maybe the execs felt the Panda was TOO small for a US audience? It would be interesting to hear.

I'm afraid the Wrangler JK doesn't qualify as a "small" offroader for me. It's gotten pretty bloated, at 500 lbs heavier and substantially bulkier than its predecessors. Jeep's larger vehicle market is already addressed by Liberty, Grand Cherokee, and so on. The smallest and most efficient vehicle, the Patriot, can be bought in a trail-rated version, but it's disappearing soon.

Why not offer an offroader that's designed for folks who are trying to downsize a bit? They're out there, in numbers.

 

[406to417]

Why do we keep getting these type of vehicles instead of a truck?

 

[ihatemybike]

Cause the mfrs are stuck in build what they get used for, when the public is and has been buy for what it can do, not what it gets used for.

 

[haven]

As Chrysler closes in on its goal of having all brands under one roof, it may be possible for Jeep to trim its models to Wrangler and Grand Cherokee only, and sell the mall cruiser cute-utes under the Dodge nameplate. This would make the "pur sang" Jeep fans happy.

The primary argument against this is that Jeep is Chrysler's only internationally renowned brand. People all over the world know the Jeep name. You could argue that the Jeep trademark is the only part of Chrysler that's worth anything. So I expect Chrysler to stick the Jeep name on all sorts of vehicles that will be sold internationally.