It’s been a busy year for the Chrysler Group, with new model after new model across the three Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep brands.

The Patriot is the latest addition, and the little five-seat 4×4 is Jeep’s new entry product. It sits alongside its Compass small 4×4 sibling, which is more of a genuine off-roader, and will be the bigger seller of the two new sub-£20,000 Jeeps.

The Patriot’s masculine design is intended to attract a new breed of younger buyers away from traditional hatchbacks, and those Tonka-toy looks, especially the blunt nose and radiator-style grille, certainly get noticed, splitting opinion everywhere the Patriot went.

Power comes from the 2.0-litre diesel sourced from Volkswagen, which we’ve criticised in several other Chrysler Group applications for its lack of refinement. However, it seems better in the Patriot than any other model so far.

Unfortunately, other recent criticisms of the firm’s products also resurface in the Patriot, specifically the.

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