Why the Jeep Avenger took so long to reach Australia

11/28/2024 03:00 PM

Jeep Australia has revealed how it had to lobby head office in the US to unlock its first electric car, the 2025 Jeep Avenger, for local showrooms.

The Avenger was not confirmed for Australia when it was unveiled in Europe in late 2022 as the company’s smallest model, a city SUV based on Peugeot-designed underpinnings.

But some convincing by Jeep Australia that the car would be successful locally got it over the line for a formal launch in late 2024, about 18 months after it went into production.

Jeep has attributed the delay in the Avenger’s Australian arrival to its discussion with head office, as well as the time needed to engineer it for Australian motor-vehicle regulations.

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“It takes a little bit of time to do our unique Australian regulation development,” Bridget Thomson, product manager for small and compact models at the local division of Jeep’s parent company Stellantis, told Australian media.

“Plus we did a lot of work actually convincing the then-Jeep CEO that this car was made for Australia as well.

“It is a little bit smaller than the other cars in our market, which took a little bit of convincing that even though it’s smaller, it’s definitely still worthwhile in Australia as well.”

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The Avenger is aimed at the European market, and is produced in a Fiat factory in Poland that builds its siblings from Alfa Romeo and Fiat.

Days after the Avenger’s global unveiling, Jeep’s then-CEO Christian Meunier told Australian media at the Detroit motor show:

“The Avenger is going to go to the UK, it's going to go to Japan, and we're looking at maybe Australia if there is a market for it. Right now it's still not decided.”

The Jeep boss added: “Obviously Australia was very much behind two, three years ago about electrification, it was not even a question.

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“When I talked to the [Australian] team it was … ‘ah electrification, not really interested.’ And I kept questioning, questioning, questioning and look at what happened in the meantime.

"Obviously New Zealand is going 100 per cent full speed ahead [with electric power]. And Australia is catching up. Australia is going to get there.”

The model was confirmed in August 2023 for local sale from the second half of 2024.

It is not clear which regulations the Avenger had to be developed for, but examples sold in Europe lack a top-tether child-seat anchor point for the middle rear seating position – something that Australian models, as five-seaters, are required by law to feature.

Jeep is launching its first electric car locally – priced from $49,990 plus on-road costs – as demand for battery-powered vehicles hits a speed bump.

“I don’t think there’s an issue. I think in the market we’re obviously in a place that we’re switching from those early adopters more into that early mainstream [demand], it’s going to take time for it to kind of pick up,” Thomson told local media.

“But I think the fantastic thing about this car, it’s the big thing our dealers have been saying, is it looks and feels like an internal-combustion [petrol or diesel] car.

“They think a lot of people will be more inclined to make that electrified switch as it’s not as, ‘Oh my God, this is an electric car. This is all new.’ There’s no one-pedal driving. There’s not a lot of buttons. But there’s none of that.

“It does still look and feel like a traditional internal combustion car. So yeah, I don’t think we’re concerned at all about timing.”

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