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.
The hits just keep on coming…
The 500X is gorgeous. The roadmap had both this and a Compass replacement. Has there been a change or just bad reporting?
I used to wonder whether your posts were meant to be taken seriously or not. Now I know.
A Jaguar E Type is gorgeous. A Duesenberg SSJ is gorgeous. Faith Hill is gorgeous. Jessica Rabbit is gorgeous.
That SUV or CUV or whatever it wants to be called in that pic………that ain’t gorgeous. It’s just a wagon/hatchback on stilts.
“It’s just a wagon/hatchback on stilts.”
Suh-weeeet!
Seats fold flat?
I tend to agree.
You have to look at the bright side, this means that Jeep is now manufacturing one less “car.”
Jeep is so screwed up that they sold 33,000 Grand Cherokees and Wranglers last month. Jeep almost sold 12,000 Compasses and Patriots last month for the best June sales they ever had. Might have something to do with dumping those CVT transmissions.
Criticizing Jeep while their sales are booming? When’s the deathwatch begin? ROFL!
Jeep sells as much in three months as Lancia and Alfa sell all year, combined.
Jeep certainly does not have a problem from a business point of view, at least. It’s the best brand Marchionne has, and hopefully he will manage it better than he has the above two Italian brands.
I think Lancia and Alfa were screwed up long before Sergio appeared on the scene. Although Lancia seems doomed to be nothing more than rebadged Chryslers for now, I think we should see a real Alfa revival coming. Sergio mentioned in a news conference that everything is ready for a new Alfa range. Real Alfas. Hopefully he’ll realize that goal. It would be nice to have some alternatives in that segment.
They were in bad shape already, true. But their sales have dropped by another half since Marchionne took over the reins. No product and weak marketing do not a strong brand make.
I think the Alfa revival (and return to the US) has been promised longer than the Second Coming …
Yes, agreed. They were losing money then and losing money now. As you know, Sergio has increased Fiat’s capacity for producing their premium brands, Maserati and Alfa Romeo. Maserati has just released the QP and the Ghibli. Both seem to be getting good reviews and initial orders are quite good. He needs Alfa to be a success if he’s going to turn things around over there. 2014 has got to be the year it happens. From what I’ve read he’s on track to get it done unless this VEBA thing bogs things down.
The all new Jeep…Patriass?
I was thinking more the “Jeep Papoose”…
Welcome to the brave new world. A world where what’s available in your local markets is more influenced by what people predominantly prefer the world over, than whatever the locals may wish for.
Where up is down, black is white, and new cars make better sense as beaters than old ones.
Like that neo_marxist philosopher put it, prophetically it seems, back in the 90s, “everything that is solid melts away in the air”.
Back in the 70s and 80’s that applied especially to FIAT sheet metal.
That would be Marshall Berman. But the quote which titles his book is a direct quote from the Communist Manifesto.
Great observation. I don’t care if my 2010 Mazda 3s receives a parking lot ding or remains covered in dust for weeks on end but my ancient, base model ’96 Bronco is treated like the prodigal son: weekly car washes, only the finest synthetic fluids, frequent waxing, and a spot in the garage. The sad thing is I can’t think of many new cars that would excite me much more than the Mazda. Maybe I’m just getting old.
“Maybe I’m just getting old.”
Or maybe you’re just maintaining your integrity.
Quote of the day!
This is what happens when your nation is no longer the trendsetter and the most prosperous, or even particularly respected. We deserve what we get in our dwindling banana republic.
No one stays on top forever. Especially when you work hard on not being there.
Indeed.
This is certainly true when it comes to European and American cars built for China, but the Japanese still cater to American needs. That will serve them, and us, well.
That’s why the Grand Cherokee and Wrangler kicked the crap out of Japanese SUV’s last month in sales. That’s why they can’t build Fusions and Edges fast enough. That’s why the Japanese are a total joke in the most profitable segment of the American, the fullsize truck. To anyone paying attention and being objective, these are great time in the American car industry.
If you’re just looking for an appliance sedan, Americans are getting better at that as well.
What American car is so compromised by being “built for China” that it makes it worse for American consumers?
Chinese people apparently like cars with gadgets and plenty of legroom…fairly sure that would sell to Americans as well.
“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.”
I find this bit interesting because I would imagine in most world markets something capable off-road would be somewhat desired, and instead they are quite content with tall cars masquerading as SUVs.
As we say in Brazil, “he who doesn’t have a dog, hunts with a cat”. People have babies and don’t need a gigantic Chrysler-style minivan. People put 5 in a 1.0L subcompact (plus baggage) and crisscross the country. People have one car they drive in summer or winter. Seems people are very adaptable when they don’t have discritionary income to purchase specialized tools for any and every conceivable “need”.
The U.S. was very much like that at one time too. The prosperity of the post world war II era, specifically the ’50’s, started the change towards individual vehicles for multiple purposes and it has continued unabated to present time, even with the advent of fuel economy standards, smog regulations, safety mandates and on and on ad nauseum.
Choice is good but at some point it does become superfluous. While world-wide tastes will never sync up entirely, I have to imagine that there is a lot of room to consolidate (Ford calls it the one plan?).
Consistent regulatory standards would be a start in that direction but with such existing disparities and FMVSS in the U.S. probably only becoming more intrusive, I think that the gulf between what is sold in N.A. vs. other parts of the world will remain wide.
I know we’ve had this debate before Marcelo but as we say in the US “You need to have the right tool for the job.” A dirt cheap compact I understand. Spending extra to have a compact car with a taller roof and zero additional capability still doesn’t make any sense to me when a real SUV can be had (or could be had) for a similar price.
Great point Marcelo. When I was 11 years old, my mother drove her Opel 1900 (aka Ascona A in Europe) up a series of US Forest Service fire roads and jeep trails so that we could hike Battle Ax in the Bull of the Woods Wilderness in the Cascade Mountains of Oregon. Years later I drove the same route in an Isuzu Trooper II. My mother drove 5 people in a compact car on a rutted mountain track with a lot less scraping sounds than I did years later in a purpose built truck. Skilled drivers make do with what they have.
Very few people in this world need true trail capability, so a CUV with extra ground clearance for bad roads works out just fine.
The trail capabilities are needed by first-world Jeep fanatics who go out of their way to find the difficult trails, and by third-world drivers looking for the easiest way around obstacles. Fancy Jeeps fro the first group, basic Land Cruisers and HiLuxes for the second.
Hopefully, this should forced Ford to sell the Eco-Sport here.
And get complaints from spoiled Americans about how cheap the interior is? I doubt they’d bother…
If it looks anything like that picture above, then—unless it’s priced very, very cheaply—the Encore will slaughter it.
I think I may enjoy the Jeep that doesn’t penalize me for being a city dweller.
This couldn’t make more sense. With proliferation of new Jeep models, I have been completely lost. What were the differences between Liberty, Patriot, Compass? In the old days, it was much easier, Jeep just had three models: Wrangle, Cherokee, and Grand Cherokee.
The Liberty was quite distinct, in that it was a conventional SUV with a low range transfer case and real off road capabilities. The Compass and Patriot were too close to one another. Considering the Liberty is being replaced by one CUV and the Caliber twins by another CUV, I don’t see the new model lineup as offering the range the old one did.
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.
I agree.
I would not buy a Jeep not made here in the US. I’m no UAW supporter, but at least a Jeep branded vehicle should roll down the assembly line here in the USA.
What a crying shame…
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
So that’s the house music being pumped through the PA system at Fiat design which resulted in the 500L/Jeep Whatever? Hmmm, I think I hear current and former Jeep customers humming Taylor Swift’s “We are never, ever, ever, getting back together…”
Let’s not buy the coming new Trail-rated solid roof Wrangler and Jeep pickup out of protest of Jeeps we don’t like. Look what happened to Wrangler sales after the Grand Cherokee and Patriot came out.
Chrysler keeps teasing a Jeep pickup but I’ve never seen one materialize.
I did get to see the Gladiator concept in person, though.
Sometimes small cars can fit big people – so I dunno. For example a Mini is pretty roomy for big guys. The key for a lot of people is how far they allow the front seat travel to be..
That’s funny you should say that because I have yet to see any new Jeep materialize since the Grand. Where is the Cherokee anyway? Jeep got everyone all riled-up about the Cherokee that hardly anyone has seen. Used to be that an automaker had to actually produce a vehicle that no one liked to hurt it’s reputation, now all they have to do is release some pictures that no one likes and never actually produce it… must be a huge cost advantage
Are you not counting the Wrangler truck versions? The local dealer in my parents hometown always has a couple.
http://www.jeffwylerlawrenceburg.com/2013-Jeep-Wrangler-Unlimited-Rubicon-Lawrenceburg-IN/vd/15466123
“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.