Jeep chops Renegade price

JEEP has kicked off the New Year with an across the board price reduction of its smallest SUV, dropping Renegade asking prices from between $1500 and $2500, fewer than three months after its introduction.

The American car-maker raised eyebrows with the pricing of the new compact soft-roader when it launched in October, as its opening price was well above that of a number of its perceived rivals.

Early adopters of the smallest seven-slot model need not feel penalised though, as Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) Australia has pledged to make up the difference with all existing customers and a cash-back card to the value of the new price reductions.

Where the range originally kicked off from $29,500 before on-road costs, the manual 1.6-litre Etorq Renegade Sport now starts from $28,000 representing a $1500 reduction however, the company says further savings are on offer with a $29,000 driveaway price.

Moving up to the 1.4-litre MultiAir Sport brings a six-speed automatic transmission and a turbocharged engine for $31,000 plus costs ($32,000 driveaway), where as the variant previously cost $32,500 before costs.

The single Longitude variant is not offered as a driveaway deal but with a new price of $33,000, the 2016 forecourt price represents a $1500 reduction over the 2015 fee.

Above that is the Renegade Limited, which shares the 1.4-litre MultiAir four-cylinder petrol and six-speed auto, but adds more equipment for a new price of $36,000, which is a significant $2500 less than the previous figure.

At the top of the pack is the Renegade Trailhawk which brings a nine-speed auto, a host of toughened off-road equipment and bags of Jeep styling tweaks, as well as the beefiest engine of the line-up and a 2.4-litre MultiAir 2 Tigershark petrol.

At launch, the Trailhawk would have set you back $41,500 but with the New Year sale, Jeep is offering savings of $1500, shaving the price back to an even $40,000.

With so few weeks under its belt, it is not clear from the figures just how the Renegade was received in Australia, but in its first full sales month (November) the company registered just 51, taking the year to date total to 204.

Up against strong and more attractively priced rivals such as the $19,990 Mazda CX-3 and $24,990 Honda HR-V, the little Jeep had a tough fight on its hands.

For comparison, in its first full month, Mazda sold 1396 CX-3s, while its Japanese rival found homes for 1081 HR-Vs.

Jeep's slightly larger Patriot found 71 homes in November, while other slower-selling sub-compact offerings outsold the Renegade in that month, including the Ford EcoSport (187 units) and the Suzuki S-Cross (61 units).

2016 Jeep Renegade pricing*

Model	New Price	Price change
Sport	$28,000	-$1500
Sport (a)	$31,000	-$1500
Longitude (a)	$33,000	-$1500
Limited (a)	$36,000	-$2500
Trailhawk (a)	$40,000	-$1500

*Excludes on-road costs