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2019 Jeep Renegade teased with taillight photo

We've seen a number of 2019 Jeep Renegade prototypes running around lately, and now we know when we'll finally see all the ways the little crossover SUV has been updated: June 6. It will make its debut at the Turin Motor Show. Before then, Jeep did reveal a couple of details, including the above shot of the new taillight design. Though the taillight is very similar to the current version, particularly in how it's still square with a distinct "X" motif in center, it has a few differences. The thick black surround of the current model is gone entirely. It makes way for dark-tinted red plastic to wrap all the way around, and it has indentations that echo the X in the center. That center X isn't all a reverse light anymore. It's now part of the taillight's internal design. Only a small white square in the middle is now for the reverse light. Aside from small styling changes on the lights, Jeep also announced powertrains for the European version of the Renegade. It will be available with at least three gasoline engine options. There will be a roughly 120-horsepower 1.0-liter three-cylinder, and two versions of a 1.3-liter four-cylinder making 150 horsepower or 180. Jeep didn't mention anything about a diesel or a hybrid, the latter of which we expect based on previous spy shots. In the U.S., the Renegade is available either with a 160-horsepower turbocharged 1.4-liter four-cylinder or a 184-horsepower 2.4-liter naturally aspirated four-cylinder. We would assume at least the 1.3-liter engine will make it to the U.S., considering its similar power output to current numbers. Related Video:

Build your own: 2017 Jeep Wrangler Willys Wheeler

While still three weeks from the start of summer, it arrived in practical terms with the Memorial Day weekend. And while the country will have worked through its collective hangover (from too much food, drink and shopping) and gotten back to work, it's worth remembering what – automotively – got us here, preserving both democracy and personal freedoms. The CJ-inspired Jeep Wrangler got us here, and in its Willys Wheeler guise the spirit of America rolls on. As the many spy pics have shown, FCA's Jeep division is working hard to replace its current Wrangler within the next few months. With that, we say goodbye to 10 model years of Wrangling with the current model. And that decade has been a good one for Jeep. Despite the economic downturn between 2008 and 2010, Jeep and Jeep Wrangler sales have been consistent bright spots for FCA, along with – of course – Ram trucks and, uh, Ram trucks. With a new Wrangler around the bend, it's worth taking a look at the existing model. And knowing an all-new example is coming, what would be the reason – if shopping – to consider what's on dealer lots now? Despite the numerous areas of improvement the new model will deliver (in efficiency, refinement and safety) , there's something to be said for a vehicle 10 years into its production cycle. While this is wholly anecdotal, for every step forward a manufacturer makes with a new vehicle, the added tech and necessary complexity seem to mandate two steps back. In an Audi A4, tech would seem a good thing, while in a Wrangler, this Jeep enthusiast would see it as a mixed blessing. Almost 80 years into its evolution (the initial Jeep concept came together in the summer of 1940) little has changed in the Jeep's essential mission. A body-on-frame architecture transports a driver and up to three passengers over paved and unpaved surfaces with credible confidence and a modicum of security. Live axles front and rear enhance the Wrangler's off-road capability, but compromise its on-road behavior. And while a significantly wider track mitigates rollovers, the Wrangler is decades removed from "state-of-the-art" when discussing safety or handling. Currently there's but one engine available in the States, a 3.6 liter normally-aspirated V6 producing 285 horsepower at a you'll-rarely-get-there 6,400 rpm. Connected to either a six-speed manual or ($1,400) five-speed automatic, the engine moves the 4,000-pound (loaded) Wrangler with measured confidence.

Jeep Cherokee won't get diesel until sales of oil-burning Grand Cherokee improve

Okay Jeep fans, you want more diesel options? Time to step up and prove it. The only way Jeep will offer a diesel powerplant in the Cherokee, according to brand head Mike Manley, is if sales of the Grand Cherokee EcoDiesel nearly double.
Currently, about eight percent of the Grand Cherokees sold feature the 3.0-liter, EcoDiesel V6. That's simply not enough to warrant the bringing an oil-burning Cherokee to the US market, despite the vehicle's presence in Europe, where it's sold with a 2.8-liter diesel V6.
"Cherokee is slightly different because of its weight and size. When I think about bringing Cherokee diesel here, I would like to see Grand Cherokee diesel get much higher than eight percent," Manley told Automotive News. "It would have to be in mid-double digits."