Jeep’s Hyundai Venue challenger: What it could look like

The market share of SUVs has been rising globally and the Indian auto scene in no different. Since the past few years, manufacturers have launched an SUV in almost every segment due to the heavy demands for SUVs from buyers. The case for SUVs is made even more strong in our country due to the poor road conditions. Among various SUV segments, the sub-4 meter segment has emerged to be the top-selling one. It also is one of the most hotly contested SUV segment since almost every manufacturer has launched a model in the segment. Jeep will be soon joining the segment with an all-new Hyundai Venue challenging sub-4 meter SUV.

Now this new Jeep baby SUV is still in its early stages of development and hence there are no clear pictures of the vehicle yet. The renders here by Kleber Silva, however, do give us a good idea about how Jeep’s Hyundai Venue challenger could turn out to be aesthetically. It will rival the likes of the Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza, Ford Ecosport, Mahindra XUV300 and Hyundai Venue among others in the sub-4 meter SUV segment. The actual product launch, however, is still some time away and since Jeep is skipping the upcoming Delhi Auto Expo, expect an official unveil later in 2020.

Talking about how the Jeep SUV in this render looks, the car borrows heavily from the bigger Cherokee. The front end is especially dominated by the Cherokee influence but the side and rear carry design influence from the Renegade. In fact, the new SUV is expected to use the Fiat Small Wide platform, which also forms the base for the Renegade SUV. In the past, the Jeep Renegade had been spotted testing in India but the new sub-4 meter SUV is likely to be very distinct from the Renegade.

The stylish rims and those low profile tires will not be present on the production model. The render here shows a two-door vehicle but India will get a four-door version only. Powering the SUV could be a 1.4-litre turbocharged petrol engine but it is not yet clear whether the car will come with a diesel option or not. This is because the current 1.3-litre Multijet diesel engine will not be made Bharat Stage 6 (BS6) compliant. Another engine that could be used is the 1.6-litre Multijet unit but that can’t be used as the sub-4 meter vehicle tax relaxation have a diesel engine cap of 1.5-litre.

Entry-level variants of the SUV could get a 1-litre 3 cylinder turbo petrol engine which makes about 118 Bhp of power and 190 Nm of torque. Expect the pricing to be quite competitive as this new sub-4 meter SUV will be Jeep mass-market car for India.