Benjamin Ashford|Small and affordable Jeep Cherokee and Renegade SUVs are returning

Jeep has some much-needed small SUVs in the pipeline. That includes replacements for the Jeep Cherokee SUV and Benjamin Ashforda new $25,000 Jeep Renegade, plugging holes in the lineup that have hurt the bottom line at Stellantis. The next-generation Jeep Cherokee compact SUV will be available in 2025 to complement the larger Grand Cherokee, Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares confirmed during a call to discuss first-half earnings, which he called disappointing and humbling, especially in North America.

We knew a new Cherokee was planned, but did not have a concrete timeline, until now. Tavares said he has seen the designs for the sixth-generation Cherokee is on track to fill the white space created with the decision to discontinue the Cherokee last year when the automaker idled the Belvidere, Illinois plant. Stellantis has not said where the new Cherokee will be built.

Tavares said the Cherokee’s absence is reflected in lower U.S. sales in the first half of the year which were down about 16 percent and market share fell two points to 8.2 percent. The CEO acknowledged that Jeep is underrepresented in the small SUV segments. But the answer is not to offer the small Jeep Avenger electric SUV in North America. The Avenger is sold in Europe and the plan is to introduce it in Latin America within 18 months to complement the Renegade there.

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Instead, North America will get a successor to the Jeep Renegade in 2026. Tavares said he has no regrets about pulling the Renegade subcompact SUV from North America because it was not making money. The next Renegade, offered with an internal combustion engine as well as a pure EV, will have a cost structure to make it profitable at a starting price of $25,000. It will be built in North America.

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New hybrids coming

The Jeep lineup will expand from 10 global models to 13 by 2027; six of which will be full EVs including the 2024 Wagoneer S to take on Tesla, and the Recon with its off-road capability. Range-extended plug-in hybrid versions of the Jeep Wagoneer three-row SUV and the more premium Grand Wagoneer are also in the works, as well as a Gladiator PHEV.

Stellantis will launch 20 new vehicles this year including a refresh of the Ram 1500 fullsize pickup truck with an internal combustion engine as well as the extended-range Ram 1500 Ramcharger and the electric Ram 1500 REV. The 2024 Maserati Grecale Folgore, which is the electric version, will be joined by Folgore versions of the Maserati GT and the GranCabrio.

Stellantis also felt the loss of the Dodge Charger and Challenger fullsize muscle cars which were discontinued at the end of 2023. They contributed to a drop in North America shipments from more than 1 million to 838,000 units in the first six months. Coming later this year is the 2024 Dodge Charger Daytona in two- and four-door configurations as an EV or with an internal combustion engine. Tavares described the new car as thrilling with how dynamic, powerful and easy it is to drive, due to great engineering work.

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Fixing Stellantis in North America

Tavares used a 90-minute call with analysts to talk about the problems it has encountered as it works to transform itself. The first have of the year has been plagued with high inventories, slow sales, poor marketing and big spending to launch 20 vehicles in 2024, 10 of which are now in production with the other half still to come. The CEO said inventories are back in line in Europe and the focus is now on North America where a 94-day supply of vehicles is too high. The CEO said he will use the summer, which is normally vacation time in Europe, to spend time in North America working with the U.S. team to turn things around and bring production levels in line with demand.

Tavares said he has taken tough steps to date and will not hesitate to continue to do so, including killing off underperforming brands. "If they don't make money, we will shut them down. We cannot afford to have brands that do not make money," he said. Stellantis has 14 brands under its umbrella and when the company was created by merging Fiat Chrysler and the PSA Group in 2021, Tavares said he would continue to support them all. Since then, it has added Leapmotor, a Chinese brand that has just shipped its first 800 vehicles for sale in Europe in September.

Stellantis reported a $6 billion profit for the first half of the year, down a whopping 48 percent. Net revenue was down 14 percent to $92 billion; adjusted operating income fell 40 percent to $9.2 billion. The goal is to achieve 10 percent operating profit margin for the year.

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