Jeep confirms sub-$40,000 electric SUV

Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares has dropped an EV bombshell, confirming that Jeep will soon release a new battery-electric SUV in North America priced from just $US25,000 ($A37,664).

Speaking at the recent Bernstein investor conference, Tavares said Stellantis would leverage the development and component sourcing insights it gained from the Citroen e-C3 project in Europe to introduce an equivalent model in the US.

“In the same way we brought the €20,000 Citroen e-C3, you will have a $25,000 Jeep very soon,” he said.

“We are using the same expertise because we are a global company and this is totally fluid across the engineering world of Stellantis.”

Details of the model are almost non-existent at the moment, however, it appears certain the mystery model will share a lot of its componentry with the e-C3, which Tavares described as the “perfect tool to compete with the Chinese”.

The e-C3 is produced in Slovakia exclusively for the European market, suggesting the new baby Jeep – likely to be smaller and offer less range than the Polish-produced Avenger (pictured) – will be made somewhere in the Americas to help mitigate shipping and import costs.

“If you ask me what is an affordable BEV, I would say 20,000 euros in Europe and $25,000 in the US,” Tavares said.

“So our job is to bring the safe, clean and affordable BEV to the US, $25,000. We’ll do it.”

The other possibility is that Stellantis could use its recently forged alliance with Chinese start-up Leapmotor to leverage Chinese-produced and engineered components and/or vehicles, but that plan would be hindered by the escalating import tariffs being put on Chinese vehicles by the US government.

Wherever the baby Jeep ends up being produced, it will eventually share showrooms with the vast new Jeep Wagoneer S and rugged Jeep Recon electric SUVs.

It’s too early to say if the model will come to Australia, though we somehow doubt it unless it’s produced in China, because shipping from Europe or the Americas would undermine the entire point of the project.

For reference, the Citroen e-C3 was ruled out for our market almost as soon as it was revealed.

Tavares said he anticipated that EVs and combustion vehicles will reach production price parity within the next three years, setting the scene for a flood of new and more affordable electric cars as EV incentives continue to diminish around the world.

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