The Renegade was introduced globally in 2014 and offered Jeep enthusiasts an affordable crossover vehicle for daily use. It was a recipe for success as the little model delivered record sales in certain regions of the global market. Jeep, however, wasn't done with the Renegade just yet after a few successful years on sale.
The American automaker went back to the drawing board and not only made improvements to the interior and exterior styling but also in the safety and convenience departments. These updates rejuvenated the Renegade range which is available in four derivatives as new, the Sport, Longitude, Limited and Trailhawk, the latter the only to offer 4X4.
1. Exterior
Upfront the new Renegade comes fitted with an updated grille fascia. The 7-slot is now cut in to have a similar look as the Wrangler. The headlamps have been upgraded to incorporate LED technology. LED technology has also been used for the daytime running lights and foglamps.
The Trailhawk and Limited derivatives also offer customers LED taillamps incorporating the X pattern like with the Wrangler. Jeep also updated the designs of the wheels and offer a variety of styles in sizes ranging from 16-inch, 17-inch, 18-inch to 19-inch.
2. Interior
While most of the interior design and trim and materials have been carried over from the earlier models, the new Renegade features an updated centre console. The new centre console also sees the inclusion of a smartphone holder as well as newly designed cup holders, additional storage compartments, including a pocket for a tablet or other small accessories.
Jeep also moved the additional USB port to the rear of the central armrest so that both front and rear occupants can easily gain access to it. This feature, however, is only available on the Longitude, Limited and Trailhawk derivatives. Also notable is the new Uconnect 5-inch, 7-inch and 8.4-inch infotainment systems. The latter two systems further incorporate Apple CarPlay and Android Auto for further convenience.
3. Safety
The new range of Renegade models offers six standard airbags and electronic stability control with electronic rollover mitigation as standard equipment. Customers can also expect traction control, electronic brake assist and a hill-start assist system as standard. New systems added to the latest Renegade includes Lane Sense Departure Warning-Plus which warns the driver if the vehicle is lane drifting.
Lane Keeping Assist will take corrective action to bring the vehicle back into its original position. A new Traffic Sign Recognition system is also available that identify the speed limits via road signs and notify the driver when they are above the speed limit. The driver can also adjust the cruise control speed to this system via the multifunction steering wheel control.
Another optional system is the updated automatic park assist which with the use of sensors, cameras and side obstacle detection function will automatically steer the vehicle into or out of a parking spot. If customers decide on fitting the full catalogue of safety systems they can expect items such as Forward Collision Warning-Plus with Active Emergency Braking standard, Adaptive Cruise Control, Blind-Spot Monitoring and Rear Cross Path Detection.
