Posts Tagged ‘Jeep Grand Cherokee’

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Chrysler Posts $166 Million Profit

Q1 results negatively impacted by product launches.

by on Apr.29, 2013

Chrysler Group's Q1 earnings dropped in part, to the launch of the new Dodge Ram.

A sharp downturn in the company’s production of new vehicles tied to new product launches undercut Chrysler Group’s cut Chrysler’s profits by two-thirds during the first quarter of 2013.

Chrysler Group reported Q1 net income net income dropped 65% to $166 million, compared with $473 million for the same quarter last year. It was the seventh consecutive quarter of positive net income.

The results, which were expected, were a result of lower vehicle shipments as well as industrial costs related to several key product launches, and lower vehicle shipments to Europe and Latin America, even as retail sales in North America remain strong, the company said.

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Nonetheless Chrysler Chief Executive Officer Sergio Marchionne insisted the company remains on a path to longer-term prosperity as it ramps up production of the new Jeep Cherokee and Grand Cherokee as well as the Dodge Ram.

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Chrysler Scrambling to Boost Jeep Production, Add New Models

Toledo plant could near 500,000 annually.

by on Mar.21, 2013

Jeep is struggling to meet surging demand for the flagship Grand Cherokee - the 2014 model shown here.

Chrysler is looking to kick up production of Jeep vehicles as it stretches to reach its objective of selling 800,000 Jeeps annually. More than half of those are to come from the SUV brand’s expanded plant in Toledo, Ohio.

The ramp-up of Jeep production is happening significantly faster than outlined in the playback Fiat/Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne unveiled in late 2009, shortly after the U.S. maker emerged from bankruptcy. But Jeep’s aggressive growth plans can’t soon enough for the Italian side of the company.

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Marchionne told reporters in Italy earlier this week that a lack of Jeeps caused by the work at its factories – and a changeover to new models — will hurt the company’s finances during the first quarter. But he is hoping that the trans-Atlantic alliance can more than recover from that shortfall by year-end.

Chrysler’s Jefferson North plant in Detroit is still ramping up production of the new 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee, which is also being prepared for expanded export as Marchionne pushes to transform Jeep into a truly global brand.

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First Drive: 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee Diesel

Diesel power to the people.

by on Feb.25, 2013

Jeep makes some unexpectedly significant updatest to the Grand Cherokee for 2014.

It wasn’t all that long ago that the all-new 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee landed among the three finalists for North American Truck of the Year. And though the SUV didn’t win the coveted trophy it clearly clicked with potential buyers, helping drive a dramatic increase in sales

So, as the 2014 model-year approaches, it might seem like there’d be little reason to pay much attention when Jeep announced it is updating the Grand Cherokee once again. Three years in, that’s normally the time manufacturers come up with minimal cosmetic and technical changes that the average buyers would barely even notice.

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Not in this case.  While true, Jeep hasn’t gone back to square one, there are some surprisingly significant changes – from the basic electric architecture to the powertrain options, as well as exterior design details — coming for the 2014 model-year that justify a closer look by reviewers and a serious re-think by potential buyers.

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Cherokee Revives Old Name for New Jeep

No more Liberty for SUV brand.

by on Feb.25, 2013

The look is familiar but distinctive, with head and foglights in a notably unusual arrangement.

Chrysler is turning to an old name for a brand new Jeep. Say farewell to Liberty.  The replacement model that will added to the line-up for 2014 will be rechristened the Jeep Cherokee, reviving a nameplate that helped kick off one of the most dramatic transformations in modern automotive history.

Jeep isn’t saying much beyond describing the 2014 Cherokee as an “all-new, ‘no-compromise’” vehicle that will set “a new standard with even more best-in-class capability, exemplary on-road driving dynamics, and fuel economy improvements of more than 45% versus the outgoing mid-size SUV model.”

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The new mid-size sport-utility vehicle will make its formal debut at the upcoming New York Auto Show.  The 2014 Jeep Cherokee will be assembled at Chrysler’s big Toledo Assembly Plant a half-hour south of Detroit, the same factory that produced the old Jeep Liberty.

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Officials Confirm New Jeep Liberty to Debut in NY

Name may yet change.

by on Feb.19, 2013

The 2014 Jeep Liberty undergoing testing prior to its introduction at the NY Auto Show.

Chrysler Group is planning to show off the new version of the Jeep Liberty at the New York Auto Show, Mike Manley, president and chief executive officer of the Jeep brand has confirmed.

Manley also said Chrysler plans to have the new version of the Liberty on sale by “the end of the second quarter,” following its debut in New York at the end of March.

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Other sources inside Jeep said the final, final call on the name for the upcoming vehicle has yet to be nailed down. There is plenty of speculation Jeep could drop the Liberty name and start fresh. The final call, however, will be made by Manley and other Chrysler executives prior to the unveiling at New York’s Jacob Javits Convention Center.

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Spy Shots: 2014 Jeep Liberty

Mid-line Jeep returns in more stylish, more flexible trim.

by on Feb.15, 2013

The newly reborn Jeep Liberty makes a camouflaged appearance during street testing.

As Chrysler clearly hinted with the roll-out of its refreshed Jeep Grand Cherokee last month, the maker’s SUV brand will be a busy place in the coming months.

Not only will we see the updated flagship model but replacements for the small Compass and Patriot models. But wait, there’s more, as those commercials on late-night TV like to say.  There’s an even smaller model to be built in Italy and rumor of a reborn Grand Wagoneer.

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But one of this year’s most significant introductions – at least now that Grand Cherokee is out of the way – will be the rebirth of the Jeep Liberty.

As these spy shots illustrate, there are a number of major changes slated within a year for the mid-size Jeep line, which will turn into a sort of junior Grand Cherokee.

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Jeep Compass Gets New Look, New Direction

Jeep Patriot gets a temporary reprieve.

by on Jan.14, 2013

The 2014 Jeep Compass adopts a style more in keeping with "big brother" Grand Cherokee.

A quick search of the web reveals a wide range of opinions about what Jeep has in store for its two smallest models, the Compass and Patriot.  And there’s good reason.  They’re actually two takes on the same platform, one designed to look like a fairly conventional SUV, the other a crossover.

Contrary to some forecasts that the one or both models would vanish or be replaced by the 2014 model-year, it seems they’re due to stick around, at least for now. But the changes being revealed at this year’s North American International Auto Show would suggest that the Jeep Compass is the most likely to remain in the line-up long-term.

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“We knew that Compass and Patriot needed work to take them into the future,” explains the brand’s chief executive Michael Manley.

Both undergo some notable changes for 2014, and they will share a new PowerTech 6-speed automatic gearbox that replaces the previous CVT transmission, and which will help the two compact crossovers achieve an EPA-rated 30 miles per gallon on the highway.

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NHTSA Clears Jeep in Fire Probe

But agency will continue to monitor Grand Cherokee.

by on Jan.09, 2013

An open road ahead for the Jeep Grand Cherokee after NHTSA clears it in a safety probe.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has cleared the 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee after an investigation into possible engine fires.

NHTSA began checking 107,000 of the SUVs in July after getting complaints about power steering hoses coming loose and leaking fluid onto the engine.

The success of the Grand Cherokee has been critical to Chrysler’s turnaround over the last three years and there was concern a major recall could slow the momentum of the big Jeep after it went through a complete redesign for the 2011 model-year.

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NHTSA did find 24 cases of loose hoses. The problem was traced to a defect inside the hose that was fixed at the factory by Chrysler’s supplier shortly after the SUVs went into production. The agency says none of the leaks caused crashes or fires, and it’s unlikely that leaking fluid would reach any ignition sources.

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Big Changes in Store for Jeep

Brand to revive Grand Wagoneer, share Fiat platforms.

by on Sep.11, 2012

The new SUSW platform from the Fiat 500X -- a concept version shown here -- will provide the starting point for a new subcompact Jeep model.

Chrysler’s grand turnaround plan is “on track,” according to CEO Sergio Marchionne, who told TheDetroitBureau.com that, if anything, the maker is moving faster than he had anticipated during the a day-long session in November 2009 when the company’s long-range turnaround plan was revealed.

But some of the biggest changes are only just falling into place as new products, such as the Dodge Dart, come to market. Much of the maker’s future strategy will depend – like Dart – on developing platforms that can be shared between Chrysler and its Italian partner, Fiat SpA.

That includes a range of new and updated offering that are in the works for the Jeep brand, arguably the strongest marque in the maker’s U.S. line-up.  An all-new version of the Liberty – which recently ended production – will make its reappearance at the January 2014 Detroit Auto Show and will share a Fiat-based platform.

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Also on tap is the return of the Jeep Grand Wagoneer which will add a new three-row model to the Jeep line-up.  Designed to serve as seven-seat competition for various General Motors and Ford full-size sport-utility vehicles, it will slot in where the ill-fated Jeep Commander was targeted a few years back.

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Feds’ Chrysler Fire Probe Expands to 5 Million SUVs

Critics content three Jeep models prone to fatal gas tank fires.

by on Jun.14, 2012

This 2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee is among the models under investigation.

Federal safety regulators have markedly expanded a probe they began nearly two years ago examining whether millions of Chrysler-made sport-utility vehicles face an unduly high risk of catching fire in rear-end collisions.

The National Highway Traffic Safety investigation, launched in August 2010, initially focused on 3 million Jeep Grand Cherokees produced between 1993 and 2004.  The agency has now added another 2.1 million 1993 to 2001 Jeep Cherokee and Jeep Liberty SUVs.

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The problem appears to center around the rear-mounted placement of the plastic gas tanks used in the three models which may make them more vulnerable to catching fire.  NHTSA has so far received reports of 15 deaths and 41 injuries related to the potential problem.

According to a government analysis, there is “a higher incidence of rear-impact, fatal fire crashes for the Jeep products.”

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