Photo: Jeep
As many of you already know, Jeep is working on a whole new crossover, to slide underneath the current lineup. This has been nicknamed the B-SUV due to its compact platform and you’d be forgiven in thinking they are working on a lifestyle vehicle.
This might be true to some degree, since the platform comes from an Alfa Romeo hatch and the interior will most likely be an upmarket one. But that’s not the full story of the B-SUV.
Australian magazine CarAdvice has learned that at least one version of this mini Jeep will be “trail-rated”, which is like saying it will get the right chunky tires and long suspension to allow it to go off-roading.
This information comes from Jeep president Mike Manley, who wanted to assure Jeep fans that they haven’t gone soft. He also dismissed rumors that the car is built on the platform of a Fiat Panda.
“It’s not off the Panda. It is a Fiat-derived platform, but we could have an hour discussing what is a platform, but let me say it is on Fiat technology,” he said.
So the architecture will indeed come from Fiat, but they can change it in such a way as to make it good as a true Jeep. But the limitations of the B-segment architecture are still there, and you won’t get the same sort of clearance or up-hill power as in a D-segment SUV like the Grand Cherokee.
However, the Jeep official said it will be the best in its class and that if it’s not trail-rated, they aren’t going to build it at all.
Australian magazine CarAdvice has learned that at least one version of this mini Jeep will be “trail-rated”, which is like saying it will get the right chunky tires and long suspension to allow it to go off-roading.
This information comes from Jeep president Mike Manley, who wanted to assure Jeep fans that they haven’t gone soft. He also dismissed rumors that the car is built on the platform of a Fiat Panda.
“It’s not off the Panda. It is a Fiat-derived platform, but we could have an hour discussing what is a platform, but let me say it is on Fiat technology,” he said.
So the architecture will indeed come from Fiat, but they can change it in such a way as to make it good as a true Jeep. But the limitations of the B-segment architecture are still there, and you won’t get the same sort of clearance or up-hill power as in a D-segment SUV like the Grand Cherokee.
However, the Jeep official said it will be the best in its class and that if it’s not trail-rated, they aren’t going to build it at all.
Google News