• Stellantis will build Dongfeng’s Voyah EVs in France through a new European joint venture.
• The deal follows Stellantis’ Leapmotor tie-up, which already brings Chinese EV production to Spain.
• Chinese automakers are turning to European assembly to blunt tariffs and gain a local foothold.

Stellantis, the automotive conglomerate that owns Jeep, Ram, and 12 other car brands, has just announced a joint venture agreement with China’s Dongfeng to build Voyah EVs in one of its European factories. It already has a similar deal with Leapmotor, under which the latter is assembling its vehicles at a Stellantis plant in Spain to bypass import tariffs these vehicles would have faced if they were manufactured in China.

Chinese EVs face an additional import duty of up to 35% in the EU, on top of the existing 10% import tariff. This hasn’t stopped Chinese automakers from bringing their vehicles over and undercutting local competition, but building them locally is an even better deal for the automakers.

The new Dongfeng deal focuses on the Stellantis plant in Rennes, France. It can accommodate up to three production lines and, at its peak, produced 400,000 vehicles per year, but now it only produces the Citroen C5 Aircross, using only a third of its capacity. Dongfeng will also build Peugeot and Jeep vehicles in China as part of the same deal.

Stellantis already knows the playbook through its tie-up with Leapmotor (in which it holds a controlling share). The Chinese manufacturer initially began production of the T03 electric city car in Poland, but production there was halted in March last year, and it now builds the B10 electric crossover at the Stellantis factory in Zaragoza, Spain. 

Reuters says Leapmotor is looking to expand its collaboration with Stellantis and identify which of Stellantis’ European factories have unused production capacity to build its own models. Leapmotor will also be providing the platform and key components for a new Opel electric crossover, making it one of the first European-badged vehicles built on fully Chinese underpinnings.

Other Chinese automakers have also begun efforts to localize production in Europe. BYD is the most famous in this respect with the huge factory it’s building in Hungary. Chery has partnered with Spain’s Ebro to use the former Nissan plant in Barcelona, while Xpeng and GAC have turned to Austria’s Magna Steyr to assemble cars in Europe.

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Europe’s tariffs were designed to protect its car industry from cheaper Chinese EVs, but they may end up accelerating a different kind of Chinese expansion. Instead of simply importing finished cars from China, automakers are now looking for factories, partners, and production footholds inside Europe itself.

For Stellantis, this gives underused plants the prospect of more work and potentially gives its European brands access to cheaper, faster-moving EV technology. Chinese automakers need to get around tariffs and find a path into the market. It’s increasingly looking like Europe’s next wave of affordable EVs may not be imported from China. They may be Chinese-engineered cars built in European factories, sometimes wearing badges buyers already know.

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A bogged Jeep Wrangler’s hot exhaust is being blamed for a wildfire that torched “more than 20 acres” of the Ocala National Forest in Florida this week. Looks like somebody driving a JK Wrangler Unlimited got stuck somewhere with a lot of tall, dry grass, which was ignited by the exhaust. As you can see from images shared by officials, the conflagration consumed the vehicle and a whole lot of vegetation. There’s no info available about who was driving, but no injuries were reported. Rubber ducky casualties are also unknown.

The Forest Service and Lake County Fire Rescue teams battled flames overnight on April 11. The incident, dubbed the Grassy Pond fire, reportedly took place off Paisley Road within the Ocala National Forest. The park does have OHV off-road trails, but I couldn’t immediately figure out if this Jeep was on a sanctioned route or not.

I wouldn’t necessarily expect dry grass to be a big issue somewhere as wet as Florida, but the catalytic converter on a 4×4 can get pretty darn hot. If that Jeep was running hard and slow, trying to use high engine speed to power through sticky mud, parts of that exhaust pipe could be over 1,500ºF, about twice the heat needed to light grass on fire.

It’s a very crappy situation that would have been tough to wriggle out of. Obviously, the Jeep driver should have picked their route more tactically. But once you’re stuck in high grass, fire could get beyond what’s manageable with an onboard extinguisher pretty quickly.

Hopefully, the destroyed flora and displaced fauna will be able to bounce back. It’s a little heartbreaking to see the aftermath image above.

If you find yourself mired like this, it’s definitely prudent to clear the brush out from under the vehicle as quickly as you can. Unless, of course, it’s already burning, in which case, get the heck out of there. But if it hasn’t caught—you’re gonna need something to do while you wait for somebody to come snatch you with a winch, anyway. And have a real ABC fire extinguisher at the ready!

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The Jeep Renegade left the U.S. market after the 2023 model year. Elsewhere, though, you can still buy one. Brazil, in particular, seems to love ’em. And not only can you still buy a Renegade in Brazil, but it looks to be much better than the one that left our shores years ago, because it’s gotten an exterior touch-up and interior overhaul.

I always find it interesting when certain cars are discontinued in some places, then go on to live their best lives elsewhere. The Renegade sold well out of the gate in the U.S., with Jeep moving well over 100,000 units in the tiny SUV’s first model year, 2015. (Its platform dates back to Fiat and GM products from the mid-aughts—yeah, it’s that old.) But deliveries quickly fell off a cliff and never recovered.

When the Renegade left us, it still had its goofy, squircle-y dashboard. The one Brazil is getting, however, may as well be a new car on the inside.

Hey, that’s a stylish-looking dash, with nice materials in this Willys-badged model, and a larger screen fitted with Stellantis’ latest infotainment. You still get physical climate controls, too, so that digital expansion hasn’t come at a loss elsewhere.

Outside, the latest Renegade continues the model’s slow descent from upbeat to angry to downright unamused. Jeep’s once-cute-ute looks absolutely tired of everyone’s bullshit now, with a furrowed brow atop a restyled grille that picks up some of the Wagoneer S’ three-dimensional cues. Jokes aside, I think this is the best the Renegade has looked yet.

I’m not going to say that the Renegade left us before it should’ve, or that it needs to come back; Stellantis has the data to know what American buyers want, and the Renegade wasn’t it. Yeah, maybe more investment would’ve gotten more buyers on board, but, in the U.S., at least, really small cars have always been a bit of a hard sell. Plus, today there’s the whole tariff upheaval to contend with, and all of these are made in Italy, China, or—you guessed it—Brazil. The new Compass has taken so long to make its way over here for similar reasons.

The Renegade, though, persists. Even in Europe, which received the newer Avenger some years back, it remains an option for subcompact SUV buyers. And good for the little Jeep. It’s good dating advice, and it also rings true for cars: No reason to waste time on people who don’t appreciate you.

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It seems inevitable that the first stop anyone who buys a 2017 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon Recon will make after leaving the dealership is a tire shop.

It’s not because Jeep doesn’t fit its latest special edition with decent tires from the factory—32-inch BFGoodrich Mud Terrains—it’s because the automaker has tweaked its flagship off-roader so that it can fit even larger 35-inch rubber without any modifications.

DON’T MISS: Our 2017 Jeep Wrangler review

For Jeepers, that’s especially notable. The Rubicon Recon is something of a final hurrah for the current generation Jeep Wrangler, since an all-new model is due to arrive for the 2018 model year. It’s the most capable Jeep Wrangler the brand has ever offered from the factory and, frankly, it doesn’t leave as much room for aftermarket improvement as a typical Wrangler does.

To build the Rubicon Recon, Jeep started with a standard Wrangler Rubicon and upgraded its front axle with tougher components to be able to withstand the extra drivetrain stress caused by heavy 35-inch tires. Jeep also trimmed the steel rails that protect its rocker panels over rough terrain in order to accommodate the 35-inch tires. Finally, taller springs netted a half inch suspension lift.

The Rubicon Recon rids on unique 17-inch dark grey alloy wheels and features black and red styling touches outside with red interior accents inside. Jeep will offer a choice of grey or color-coordinated fender flares as an option. The Rubicon Recon will be available in seven paint shades: Black, Bright White, Billet Silver, Firecracker Red, Gobi, Rhino and Granite Crystal.

At $40,140 for the two-door and $43,940 for the four-door Unlimited, the Rubicon Recon isn’t exactly cheap—but it comes with a full warranty and is outfitted for just about any trail you might want to encounter, including the drive to the tire shop. 

If you’re in Chicago, the Rubicon Recon will be on display at the Chicago Auto Show through February 20, 2017. 

The Renegade 4xe also has a smaller tank of fuel than the eHybrid to accommodate the larger plug in battery. The car’s range will be significantly reduced if the battery is not charged when the vehicle is parked. Either way, stops are going to be frequent to top up either the battery or the fuel tank.

Electric range, battery life and charge time

While the battery in the 4xe PHEV is small at 11.4kWh, that does mean it’s quick to top up when compared with a full EV. It can go from flat to fully charged in an hour and 40 minutes when plugged into a 7.4kWh wallbox, but that’s as fast a charging speed as you’ll get, because there are no quicker options available.

Insurance groups

The complexity of the plug-in powertrain has a negative effect on insurance group ratings. The e-Hybrid model falls into group 17, but the 4xe is nearly 10 groups higher in 26.

Tax

All versions of the Jeep Renegade fall below the PS40,000 luxury car surcharge for road tax, so the 4xe will be a cheaper car to run than many other four-wheel-drive SUVs.

Depreciation

There’s a retained value of around 43 per cent for the e-Hybrid version of the Renegade, which is at the lower end of the spectrum in the small SUV class, but not shocking. The 4xe has a residual value of just 37 percent, which is a pretty low number. This isn’t the worst performer in the Jeep line-up, though, because the Compass has even less impressive residuals.

The Renegade’s cabin was designed back in the early 2010s, so it looks quite dated today, and features plenty of hard plastics. The Renegade has many physical controls, rather than touchscreens, and this can be a plus for some. The controls on some models are not logically arranged, and the fuel filler on the PHEV looks like an aftermarket accessory. It’s actually a safety measure to avoid opening the fuel cap while the car’s charging, which can cause a fire. As well as the touchscreen and climate controls, a third bank of switches sits beneath the climate settings to change the off-road modes.

Interior and dashboard design

Inside, Jeep squeezes in plenty of character touches. The Jeep face of round headlights, seven-slot grille and speaker surrounds are embossed on the rear-view-mirror housing, tailgate and speaker surrounds. The air vent design is apparently inspired by base-jumping equipment, the pod-like central vents by ski goggles, and you even get a mud splatter graphic instead of a red line on the rev counter.

Materials and build quality

Hard plastics are the order of the day, but as with other off-road biased models, the Renegade makes a virtue of this and incorporates it into the design.

Infotainment, sat-nav and stereo – subhead H3

There’s a modest 10-inch touchscreen inside, while the driver gets a 10.25-inch display ahead of the steering wheel that shows loads of information. The main screen has plenty of functionality, with Bluetooth included alongside Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, allowing you to bypass the native infotainment system if you want.