Jeep says Avenger buyers are younger, more likely to be women

MALAGA, Spain – The new Jeep Avenger, the Stellantis brand’s smallest model yet and its first full-electric one, is attracting more young and female buyers, executives said.

The average age of buyers who placed early orders for the Avenger – deliveries for gasoline models started in Italy late last month – was 45, compared with 55 for the rest of the Jeep range, Eric Laforge, CEO of Jeep’s enlarged Europe region, told Automotive News Europe at a test drive in Malaga in April. Women made up 45 percent, compared with 30 percent overall, Laforge said. 

And of 25,000 early orders, 80 percent were conquests from other brands, and 75 percent of buyers for the full-electric variant were coming from an internal-combustion model.

Most Avengers will be sold with the full-electric drivetrain, with a 1.2-liter three-cylinder gasoline engine offered only in Italy, Poland and Spain. Jeep expects EVs to make up most of Avenger sales. 

However, the mix in Italy, Jeep’s largest European market and which accounted for half of the early orders, was 85 percent gasoline, Jeep said.

Sales for electric models will start with front-wheel drive, but a second electric motor will be installed on the rear axle to create a 4xe all-wheel-drive model for launch later. Gasoline models will be front-wheel drive only.

By 2030, Jeep expects to sell only full-electric models in Europe, Laforge said.

Laforge would not directly confirm reports that Jeep expects to sell about 100,000 Avengers a year, with a goal of 300,000 sales for the brand overall late this decade, but he said that that both figures "make sense."

Jeep last year sold 102,713 cars in Europe after industrywide supply problems reduced volumes from 133,227 units in 2021, figures from Dataforce show. 
Jeep’s record sales in Europe were 168,652 in 2018, according to industry association ACEA.

The Avenger will be Jeep's second entry in the small SUV category, Europe's biggest segment, alongside the slightly longer Renegade.

The Avenger is benefiting from various improvements to the second generation of Stellantis’ e-CMP architecture, a platform that is used for small (and a few compact) cars across its brands. It supports gasoline, diesel and full-electric powertrains.

Battery-electric SUVs on the platform now have a range of about 400 km (250 miles) on the mixed WLTP cycle, with up to 550 km in urban driving.

The Avenger has a new 115 kW (156 hp) motor supplied by the E-Motors joint venture between Nidec and Stellantis and built at Stellantis’ plant in Tremery, France. The 54-kilowatt-hour battery pack -- of which 50.8 kWh is usable – is supplied by Chinese specialist Contemporary Amperex Technologies Ltd (CATL). 

Stellantis’ first generation of full-electric small SUVs – the Peugeot e-2008, Opel/Vauxhall Mokka-e and DS 3 Crossback E-Tense -- offered about 320 km of range from a 50-kilowatt-hour battery pack that powered a 100 kW (136 hp) motor.

Jeep detailed the main improvements that permitted to boost the range of eCMP2 vehicles by 25 percent from 320 to 400 km:

• The new electric motor added 5 percent in range (roughly 16 km)
• A slightly bigger battery pack (8 percent in higher nominal capacity) added 12 percent (38 km)
• Better aerodynamics, longer gear ratios and low-resistance tires added an additional 8 percent (26 km)

At 4084 mm long with a 2562 mm wheelbase, the Avenger is the shortest of Stellantis small SUVs, but it offers a similar usable interior space to sibling models. The overall length is shorter because of smaller front and rear overhangs to improve approach and departure angles for off-road use. The impact zones have also been shortened.

In comparison, the Peugeot 2008 has a slightly longer wheelbase at 2605 mm and overall length is 4300 mm, 216 mm more than the Avenger.

Jeep said the Avenger has about 600 specific parts compared with other models based on the eCMP platform. 

Jeep will begin deliveries of the electric Avenger from late May in France (where the model starts at 36,500 euros) and in Germany (from 37,000 euros). 

Other European markets will follow from June. Later this year Jeep will export electric Avengers to Morocco, Turkey, Japan and South Korea. Sales in the U.S. and China are not planned.

Deliveries of the gasoline Avenger began in Italy in late April starting at 24,300 euros.