Jeep plotting baby SUV

Jeep already has a wider range of SUVs than most mainstream brands, and now the US off-road specialist's line-up looks set to not only expand upwards with the seven-seat Grand Wagoneer flagship, but downwards with an all-new baby SUV.

Asked at this week's Los Angeles motor show to nominate which 'white space' segments he would like to fill, Jeep's global boss Mike Manley nominated three models.

At the top of his wishlist were two seven-seaters: the Grand Wagoneer and a smaller, mid-size SUV to rival Toyota's Kluger/Highlander, which motoring.com.au understands will be next year's new-generation Cherokee – stretched to accommodate three rows of seats.

But the third surprise model was a pint-size micro-SUV to slot beneath the light-size Renegade (pictured) and the new Compass small SUV, as direct rival for European mini-crossovers like the Renault Captur.

"The final area for Jeep is something that we're looking at now. In some markets we're seeing a strong emergence of A [segment] or super-compact SUVs, and Europe is one, with all the German and French manufacturers piling into it," he said.

"I think the time will come where we'll need one of those as well."

Jeep expects the annual worldwide C-segment (small) SUV market segment, one of the fastest growing globally, to expand from 6.3 million vehicles currently to 7.5 million by 2020, with the Asia-Pacific region including Australia set to grow by 17 per cent in the same period.

However, Jeep's global chief also predicts strong future growth in both the smaller B-segment in which the Renegade and its sister model, the Fiat 500X, compete and the emerging A-segment micro-SUV space.

Sales of small and compact SUVs surged by 28 per cent in Europe in the first half of this year and Jeep now has low-cost factories in Brazil, Mexico, China and India, all of which could produce budget-priced mini-SUVs within a few years.