Jeep to slot new model below Renegade, sources say

The first Jeep model built on a PSA Group platform as part of the merger with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles that formed Stellantis will slot below the Renegade, with production slated to start in July 2022 at a Tychy, Poland, plant, sources with knowledge of the matter told Automotive News Europe.

The small utility vehicle, which is based on the Compact Modular Platform, will use engines developed by PSA, the sources said.

The new Jeep will be followed by two other models from former FCA brands, a small Alfa Romeo crossover in January 2023 and a small Fiat in July 2023, the sources said. FCA said in December that the new models, which it did not name, would also have full-electric power. Sales generally start about three months after production begins.

A major reason behind the merger between PSA and FCA, completed last month, was the potential for billions in synergies among the two groups' brands, especially in Europe. The CMP architecture underpins half a dozen vehicles from brands from the former PSA, including the Peugeot 208 and Opel/Vauxhall Corsa small cars, the Citroen C4 compact, and the DS 3 Crossback, Peugeot 2008 and Opel/Vauxhall Mokka small crossovers.

Those models have both full-electric and internal combustion drivetrains.

FCA has told suppliers that production of CMP-based vehicles in Tychy could reach 400,000 annually. The FCA factory, which now builds the Fiat 500 minicar and Lancia Ypsilon small car, assembled 263,176 vehicles in 2019, far below its high of 606,000 in 2009.

FCA said in late December that it was investing 170 million euros ($204 million) to modernize the plant  for the three models, although it did not provide specifics about the vehicles or a production timetable.

Stellantis will also benefit from common purchasing, but until FCA and PSA procurement departments are fully integrated, procurement for the three CMP models at Tychy will be divided between PSA for platform and powertrain components, and FCA for models-specific parts and materials, sources told Automotive News Europe.

A small Jeep model was first mentioned in June 2018 in a business plan from Mike Manley, the brand’s CEO at the time and later CEO of FCA (and now head of Americas region at Stellantis). That vehicle was described as an "urban utility vehicle" and classified in the small/minicar segment. 

According to supplier sources, the small Jeep on the CMP platform could offer a four-wheel-drive version with an electric motor powering the rear axle. That solution is already used on the larger Jeep Renegade and Compass plug-in hybrids, as well as models from Peugeot and DS, such as the Peugeot 3008, DS 7 Crossback and Peugeot 508 Sport Engineered.

A small Alfa Romeo crossover would slot under the coming Tonale compact crossover (to be built on a version of the FCA platform used in the Jeep Renegade and Compass) and existing Stelvio midsize crossover. According to Italian news reports, it could be called the Brennero, which like  Stelvio and Tonale is the name of an Italian mountain pass.  

No details have emerged about the Fiat-badged CMP model. The brand has not had a small car since 2018, when production of the Punto hatchback was discontinued.

Fiat now builds the 500X small crossover alongside the Jeep Renegade in the Melfi plant in southern Italy and the 500L small minivan in its plant in Serbia. According to JATO Dynamics, sales of the 500X fell 35 percent in 2020 to 58,467; sales of the 500L dropped by 40 percent to 21,825.

Fiat showed a small electric vehicle concept -- the Centoventi (Italian for "120") -- in March 2019 at the Geneva auto show.

Manley said in October 2019 that FCA would exit the minicar segment, even though the Fiat Panda and 500 models dominate segment sales in Europe, in favor of small vehicles. "In the very near future, you will see us refocus on this higher-volume, higher-margin segment," he said.