To properly evaluate this car it's best to put aside all opinions of the regular 500. the 500X is quite a nice design, nowhere near as bloated and disfigured as the 500L. It's clearly aimed at the style-conscious rather than practicality-conscious buyer with such as swoopy rear end but that's probably an accurate assessment of the people who buy small crossovers now, Im pleased they have included more powerful engines, AWD and the 9-speed transmission from Jeep, although I would be surprised if many buyers stray too far from a front wheel drive manual.
When prices are announced it will be interesting to see how far below the Renegade they peg it, if it's priced to compete with the juke and Captur, and offered with a decent 4 wheel drive system Jeep may as well not bother launching the Renegade in Europe, at least not at the crazy prices that have been suggested so far (up to £27000 for a vehicle based on a 9 year old Punto) reviews so far have criticised the Renegade for poor on-road dynamics and interior quality, I expect the 500X will be more road-focused in its dynamics, less compromised by the imaginary need to go off-road, which it never will.
I do think FIAT is making a mistake putting all their eggs into a 500-range basket. As others have commented this vehicle and the 500L are really more suited to the Panda genes, meanwhile what the FIAT range really needs is a regular 5 door hatch replacement for the Punto, a car which would more comfortably fit into the 500 sub-brand and rival the MINI 5 door.
Crossovers, especially small ones may well be the biggest growth segment right now but trends change and can easily reverse, whereas the regular B segment hatch market remains Europes biggest market and has been so, consistently and constantly, for over a decade with continued steady growth, yet FIAT has almost abandoned it to concentrate on risky niche models.
When prices are announced it will be interesting to see how far below the Renegade they peg it, if it's priced to compete with the juke and Captur, and offered with a decent 4 wheel drive system Jeep may as well not bother launching the Renegade in Europe, at least not at the crazy prices that have been suggested so far (up to £27000 for a vehicle based on a 9 year old Punto) reviews so far have criticised the Renegade for poor on-road dynamics and interior quality, I expect the 500X will be more road-focused in its dynamics, less compromised by the imaginary need to go off-road, which it never will.
I do think FIAT is making a mistake putting all their eggs into a 500-range basket. As others have commented this vehicle and the 500L are really more suited to the Panda genes, meanwhile what the FIAT range really needs is a regular 5 door hatch replacement for the Punto, a car which would more comfortably fit into the 500 sub-brand and rival the MINI 5 door.
Crossovers, especially small ones may well be the biggest growth segment right now but trends change and can easily reverse, whereas the regular B segment hatch market remains Europes biggest market and has been so, consistently and constantly, for over a decade with continued steady growth, yet FIAT has almost abandoned it to concentrate on risky niche models.
