Today comes news that Stellantis is canceling both the Jeep Renegade and Fiat 500X. Both have seen sales plunge over the years, though the 500X was never a big seller in the U.S. The information comes as Stellantis and the Italian union at its Melfi Assembly Plant, where both are made, are negotiating new contracts. Yes, it may surprise you to know that the Renegade comes from Italy and not the U.S.

Will the Jeep Avenger replace the Renegade?

The 500X will be the first to go, ending production in 2024. Then, by 2025, the Renegade will also be done. All of these cancellations and more will be coming as automakers transition over to EVs. That is what Stellantis is planning, at least for the successor to the Renegade. 

Though the Jeep Avenger seems like the more likely replacement, Jeep will instead have an entirely new Renegade replacement. The smart-looking all-electric Avenger is not sold in the U.S., which seems surprising.  

How popular was the Fiat 500X?

As for the 500X, there won’t be a successor. Sales in the U.S. saw its best sales soon after its debut, with its best year in 2016 when it sold 12,599. It has all been downhill since, with sales last year hitting a measly 463. In Canada, it only sold 16 in 2021.

As for the Renegade, its numbers are much more robust. Since its introduction in 2015, sales hit over 100,000 in both 2016 and 2017, and almost that amount in 2018. But sales have taken a nosedive since then, reaching only 27,551 last year. It got a mild refresh in 2019 without any spike in sales. 

Overall, Fiat is charging ahead with three new electric crossovers. The sub-compact 600 has been shown. Another sub-compact, the Panda, will be shown in July 2024, according to MoparInsiders. Fiat will revive the Multipla name for a compact crossover around 2025. 

Are there clues to what the Renegade replacement will look like?

Stellantis will continue to build the Jeep Compass and several other vehicles for Opel and Lancia at the Melfi Assembly Plant. It currently builds the Compass in Mexico. 

Jeep has sprung some great concepts over the year, but nothing that hints at what the Renegade replacement will look like. The Renegade is one of the few Jeep models that leans more toward traditional crossover features than off-road intentions. So we suspect it will be a more stylized Renegade that still looks like a Jeep but moves away from the utilitarian look and functions. 

We expect to see a preview of what it might look like sometime next year. Maybe at the Easter Safari? That’s when the last Renegade concept was introduced in 2016, the Comanche. It was a production-looking pickup with six inches more wheelbase and a six-foot bed. While we don’t expect the new Renegade replacement to be a pickup, we would certainly welcome it as a Ford Maverick competitor.