Do you like the Jeep Renegade? It’s an honest question — I’m not trying to imply the car is bad or anything, but I also never hear anyone talking about it (OK, except one guy) nor do I tend to see them on the road. Which is kind of surprising considering that the prospect of a tiny Jeep was so exciting when the Renegade arrived on the scene six years ago.
Here’s another question: If you don’t like the Renegade, given the choice of a Marvel-themed special edition, would you be more inclined to drive one? I totally missed the Batman-themed “Dawn Of Justice” Renegade from a few years back, but if you consider yourself a bigger Marvel fan than a DC one and you happen to live in Italy, you may be interested to learn Jeep is coming out with a Loki-themed version of its compact SUV there.
Why in Italy? I don’t know — is Loki popular with Italians? Is the Renegade popular over there? The SUV is built in Italy, for what it’s worth. At any rate, the show starring the titular supervillain/antihero just premiered earlier this month, so I suppose now’s the right time for Stellantis to strike.
Right off the bat, we notice a problem. Because while Loki is a dude known for his green and gold/brass ensembles, this Renegade is blue. At the very least if we got a cool dark sage out of this branding exercise, it might have been worth it. This blue isn’t bad, but it also isn’t Loki. You had one job, Jeep!
Anyway, the erroneously-blue Loki Renegade can be had either in turbodiesel Multijet guise or as a 4xe model, where all-wheel drive is also an option. It’s based on the Limited trim with the Function pack, so buyers get conveniences like folding electric side mirrors, extra room to store things under the front passenger seat, and a reversible, waterproof cargo mat that’s easy to take out and hose down. It’s also got 18-inch rims, which are pretty large for the little Renegade.
Considering the color is all wrong, you might be wondering where the Loki tie-in is here. Honestly, I can’t tell you. I’m not seeing any unique badging on the car in these renders, which is a little surprising considering even the Batman/Superman-themed Renegade had a nifty batwing crest on the tailgate. Maybe Loki personally requested the electric side mirrors and cargo mat; look, he’s a bad dude, but he appreciates practicality and convenience just like the rest of us.
In light of the lack of branding I’m seeing here, I’ve gotta chalk this one up to low effort and little to no research on behalf of Stellantis’ marketing and design people. Let’s be real: If you’re gonna reach for a shameless promotional stunt, you have to at least put some love into it. The Suzuki Jimny is already doing the baby Jeep shtick better than the Renegade is, cuter and cheaper and people in Mexico have been stumbling over each other to get theirs. The least you could have done is give Loki an economical, plucky SUV that deserves his name — in green.
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