Jeep is looking to help bring freedom to Europe once again.
The brand’s European boss, Xavier Peugeot, confirmed at an event adjacent to the Paris Motor Show that a new Renegade is in the works and that it is also considering the launch of a subcompact SUV inspired by the World War 2 Willys MB that launched the brand.
“We’ve got a strong heritage, which started more than 85 years ago,” Peugeot told Auto Express. “But the world is changing, and we have to consider what Jeep stands for without betraying our values, but also being able to reinterpret them for the future.”
“Spaces will be even more precious than before. Ecologically responsible answers will be [expected] more than ever. There will be, more than ever, a will to go for outdoor solutions. We also expect to be able to explain that being smaller will not mean getting less. It will mean being more smart, and that’s what we expect to do. We expect every centimeter in our product to work harder.”
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The current Wrangler is, of course, the most direct descendant of the Willys MB, but even the two-door model is about a yard longer than the Willys MB. Peugeot showed a teaser image of the new one that depicted it as a shadow behind a Willys MB and just slightly larger.
Unfortunately for American Jeep fans, it sounds like Europe is the target market, as he made no mention of selling it in the U.S., and its debut isn’t expected before 2030.
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“Our responsibility is to be able to translate Jeep’s original DNA into concrete and strong answers for European customers. The key word for Jeep in Europe is, of course, freedom. It’s also adventure, it’s authenticity, and it’s passion.”
Jeep currently leverages the Willys name as a Wrangler trim, but it is focused on throwback styling and off-road capability, rather than size.
