Cars
Americans Don’t Just Want SUVs Anymore. They Need Them
Auto executives ignored paddleboarding at their own peril.
Of the hundreds of vehicles for sale at the moment, the Jeep Renegade may have the strongest resemblance to a woodlands critter—perhaps a hedgehog, or a bear cub.
The rig is tiny and adorable–attributes not lost on caustic car critics who piled on its 2014 launch as product strategy gone awry. The machine was, they decried, a “baby Jeep”; a Fiat in lumberjack trim. In short, the Renegade was Fiat-Chrysler Automobiles NV Chief Executive Officer Sergio Marchionne’s shameless ploy for young adults Instagramming their way to brunch. But a hearty slice of avocado toast is just the start of the Renegade’s day.