The Jeep Renegade has been given a light facelift, with subtle changes to its exterior styling and new technology inside, and with a fleet of new engines confirmed. A £945 price hike takes its entry-level price up to £19,200.
Jeep has previously confirmed to Autocar that there will eventually be a 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol, 48V mild hybrid version of every car in its line-up. This will include the upgraded Renegade when it goes on sale in the UK in September. The American brand also has plans to give each of its models a plug-in hybrid variant by the end of the decade, as well as a smaller, sub-Renegade SUV after this.
A 1.0-litre, 120bhp petrol, as well as a 150bhp and 180bhp 1.3-litre petrol will also feature, bringing greater performance and efficiency than the current iteration's 1.4 and 1.6-litre petrols. The range-topping Renegade, the 2.0-litre, 168bhp Trailhawk, costs £30,805.
Exterior revisions include revised LED daytime running lights - the X motif from the rear lights is continued into the headlights now - and other such light tweaks, while the car’s rugged, retro-Jeep styling remains.
Inside, a larger 8.5in infotainment screen takes the place of the current 6.5in unit, absorbing the buttons and controls previously surrounding it, although a smaller 5in unit is fitted to lower-spec models. The new unit is still housed in the shaped surround so takes up no more space than the complete previous unit.
The Renegade is Jeep's most successful model in Europe, being closely related to the Fiat 500X and occupying the same market segment as the huge-selling Nissan Juke. The new Jeep Compass, a Nissan Qashqai rival, is also pivotal to the brand's success.
