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2015 Jeep Renegade to start at $17,995, Trailhawk rings up at $25,995

Prices for the 2015 Jeep Renegade have leaked onto a enthusiast forum ahead of the official embargo on pricing and driving impressions, which breaks at 12:01 AM Friday. They come from a video interview with Jeep CEO Mike Manley, that was allegedly set live accidentally. It's since been pulled down. At this point, it's unclear if the listed prices include any destination charges, so they could climb slightly higher or lower. In its most basic form, the two-wheel-drive Renegade Sport will go on sale for just $17,995. For that price, you get, um, not a lot. Really. The entry level Renegade doesn't even offer standard air conditioning – it's part of a package that includes heated power mirrors and cruise control. The $21,295 Latitude adds a leather-wrapped steering wheel, standard 16-inch wheels, air conditioning, five-inch touchscreen infotainment system with Bluetooth, a six-speaker stereo and USB connectivity. The top-end Renegade Limited, meanwhile, starts at $24,795 and makes standard items of the heated, powered leather seats, dual-zone climate control, seven-inch TFT display in the instrument cluster, auto-dimming mirror and 18-inch wheels. The Limited also adds a number of aesthetic tweaks that spruce up the Renegade's exterior, including brightwork around the grille, mirror caps, taillights and roof rails. The above prices, of course, are only for the front-drive Renegade. Add $2,000 to the above prices for all-wheel drive. You won't need to add that to the all-wheel-drive-only Trailhawk, which starts at $25,995 and comes with a slew of off-road features, including a bespoke front and rear fascia, with the former sporting the world's most adorable pair of red tow hooks. Mechanically, there's an exclusive version of the brand's Active Drive all-wheel-drive system that includes a 20-to-one crawl ratio and a dedicated Rock mode for the Selec-Terrain system and 17-inch wheels. The cabin, meanwhile, is home to Ruby Red accents. While we have basic trim prices, we're still without more specific details, including the cost of marquee options like the My Sky roof, as well as the plethora of options packages that will be available when the CUV arrives in dealers. We'll have our full review of the all-new Renegade available when the embargo on driving impressions breaks Friday. In the meantime, let us know what you think of these prices. Are they where you expected them to be? Higher? Lower? Have your say in Comments. Related Video:

Aptly-named Hooligans motorcycle gang charged with stealing 150 Jeep Wranglers

Nine members of the Tijuana, Mexico-based Hooligans motorcycle gang are facing federal charges, accused of stealing 150 Jeep Wranglers in San Diego County, then moving them across the border, where they were sold or stripped for parts. "The joy ride is over for these Hooligans," said Deputy U.S. Attorney Mark Conover. "For many of us, our cars are our most valuable possessions," he said. "These arrests have put the brakes on an organization that has victimized neighborhoods in a different way, by stealing something very personal, something that has required a lot of sacrifice to purchase." Conover said the gang also stole dozens of motorcycles. The indictment alleges that the gang used old-fashioned shoe leather, a high-tech device, and a specific Chrysler dealership to pull off the thefts. San Diego County faced a rash of Wrangler thefts in 2014. Conover says most of the Jeeps were stolen in the middle of the night, and most were equipped with alarms, yet no alarm ever went off. Police were perplexed about that until they caught a break. On Sept. 26, 2014, a Jeep was stolen out of a driveway in Rancho Bernardo, where a security camera showed the thieves' method. Based on what they saw in the surveillance footage, officers sent Chrysler a list of 20 Jeeps that had been stolen and asked whether anyone had requested duplicate keys - and sure enough, a duplicate had been issued for all 20 - and all from the same dealership, in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. The indictment alleges that the Hooligans would case a specific Jeep days ahead of stealing it, and would take down its vehicle identification number. Somehow they managed to obtain the secret key codes that would allow them to request a duplicate key for that particular Jeep. During the theft, the indictment says, the Hooligans would disable the alarms system, program the duplicate key using a handheld device, then simply drive away. The fact that Jeeps' engine bays can be easily accessed because of their external latches made the job even easier. (Authorities recommend Jeep owners purchase aftermarket locking latches.) Three of the gang members have been arrested. One was already in custody when two others were arrested this week, one of them at San Diego's massive San Ysidro border crossing. The six others facing charges are still at large and believed to be in Mexico. Seven are US citizens, while two are from Mexico. The collective value of the thefts is estimated at $4.5 million.

Chrysler expecting up to 200,000 9-speed transmissions for 3 models this year

Striving for improved fuel economy, we already knew that Chrysler will begin using a nine-speed automatic transmission in some of its new products this year, but what we haven't known is that volume at which this gearbox will be used. According to Bloomberg, Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne has been quoted as saying that the automaker expects to sell close to 200,000 units equipped with this new transmission in 2013. Those gear-rich trannies will be spread out across three models, consisting of the redesigned Chrysler 200, the still-unnamed Jeep Liberty replacement and the Dodge Dart.
This transmission should play a pivotal role in making Chrysler vehicles more competitive in their respective segments. Just for comparison, one of the Dart's key competitors, the Toyota Corolla, still uses a four-speed automatic, and a previous report indicates that the next-generation 200 could get up to 38 miles per gallon on the highway, which is better than most non-hybrid midsize sedans on the market. Marchionne says that the new Jeep model is expected during the second quarter of this year, but there is no word as to when the new 200 or nine-speed Dart will debut, but clearly Dodge would like to have the transmission in its compact yesterday. As for that volume figure, it definitely doesn't seem out of reach since the Dart, Liberty and 200 combined for a total of more than 225,000 units in 2012.
How many more gears can we expect in future cars? Probably not many more, since the CEO of transmission-builder ZF, Stefan Sommer, previously stated that nine speeds was the "natural limit" for transmissions.