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How the Jeep Renegade created a WoW factor
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IF you spot a tiny, rugged SUV covered with a special color pattern of savage beauty on the streets of Shanghai, don’t be surprised that it is an original Jeep Renegade.
With the launch of its first Chinese-made, entry-level SUV last month, the once plain-looking SUV specialist has suddenly smartened its brand image — a “betrayal”, as the name “renegade” suggests, of its old belief that professional off-terrain technologies are all that matter.
Targeting China’s post-1985 generation, which grew up with visual sensualities, Renegade has come up with its own “wow” factor.
Underlying Renegade’s special exterior design for a limited edition of 666 vehicles is the theme of “World of Warcraft,” the legendary video game series that shaped the collective memory of 100 million young netizens in China 10 years ago.
After the long-awaited “Warcraft” movie premiere recently, the sales of the Renegade in the WoW edition have also gone wild.
Released in batches on Jeep’s online store this month, the WoW edition of Renegade was snapped up within minutes each time.
Together, the movie and the car have revived a nationwide craze about a fantasy world filled with colorful arrays of monsters and landscapes. The theme earned WoW a Chinese name that means “world of magic beasts.” Jeep has become cute brute.
Priced at less than 200,000 yuan (US$30,280) and marketed as the most affordable professional SUV in China, the vehicle has limited off-terrain capabilities because four-wheel drive is absent in the low-to-middle range models. One of the most cost-effective ways to differentiate the vehicle’s personality is by changing color patterns.
The Renegade is the first Jeep to mix Fiat’s Italian style with American ruggedness, after the group acquired Jeep’s parent company Chrysler.
Just as in the video game, buyers can side with one of the two WoW fractions in choice of color design for the grill, bonnet, door mirrors, and quarter panels. That means you either join Alliance, represented by a blue-gold dual hue inspired by the Lion Shield as a symbol of strength, or Horde, with its black-and-red tribal color. The lettering “Fight for the Horde” or “Fight for the Alliance” rounds out the noteworthy touches on the car.
“Among the post-1985 generation, there is a craving for a professional SUV like Renegade as a high starting point for a colorful life and a strong sense of road presence,” said Jeep.
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