2002 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo Sport Utility 4-door 4.0l on 2040-cars

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7 months later, Jeep 'trailer hitch' recall still stalled

For the past few years, Chrysler and its CEO, Sergio Marchionne, have gone head-to-head with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and its boss, David Strickland, over the government safety agency's request for Chrysler to recall almost three-million Jeep vehicles due to what NHTSA says is a safety issue that has caused at least 51 deaths. After a three-year investigation and Chrysler's initial refusal to issue a recall because it deemed the vehicles safe and built to the day's federal requirements, last summer, the two parties compromised on a "voluntary campaign" to inspect 1.56 million vehicles, those being the 1992 to 1998 Grand Cherokee and 2002 to 2007 Liberty.
Those vehicles were designed with their gas tanks between the rear axle and the bumper, and NHTSA says that in rear-end collisions, damage to the fuel tank has caused fires responsible for those 51 deaths. The compromise reached last summer was that Chrysler would inspect 1.56 million vehicles and, "if necessary, provide an upgrade to the rear structure of the vehicle." Practically speaking, that meant Chrysler would replace aftermarket trailer hitches, but would take no action if a vehicle had a factory-installed hitch or an aftermarket hitch from Mopar.
A report in The Detroit News says the "voluntary campaign" is just now getting under way, with Chrysler saying last week that the design of the replacement part had been finalized and it was tooling up "to deliver the required volume." Seven months later, still in question is whether NHTSA will crash-test the fix engineered by Chrysler, noteworthy because not only did the vehicles in question pass every safety standard necessary to be cleared for sale at the time, there are still questions (to those of us on the outside) as to how the Jeeps at issue fare among their peers in such incidents. Either way, Chrysler and NHTSA apparently still disagree on the efficacy of the remedy itself: the carmaker says it might help in low-speed crashes but not high-speed collisions, a position the NHTSA is at odds with. All of this means the campaign doesn't yet have an end in sight.

Jeep Wrangler likely to get aluminum body, will stay in Toledo

Perhaps more than any other vehicle currently for sale in the United States, the Jeep Wrangler is viewed by purist fans as a vehicle that simply must maintain the status quo. In this case, that means a body-on-frame design, solid axles, a relatively large engine sitting up front and a removable top. It's always been that way, and it always will be.
Maybe.
According to the most recent reports, the next-generation Jeep will continue to soldier forth with a full steel chassis underneath its stamped bodywork. The biggest change, reports Automotive News, will be that said panels will be hewn from aluminum instead of steel, a seismic shift of a transition not unlike what's happened with the new Ford F-150. Because it won't be a unibody, the SUV will likely continue to be assembled in Toledo, OH as it (almost) always has been - the latter has been a source of heartburn in recent weeks for the Northwestern city in the Buckeye State.

Jeep launches new ad with unreleased Michael Jackson track

We've recently heard much about how Fiat-Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne plans to pump up the volume on Jeep sales, inaugurating new models and global dealerships. But that's the stuff outlined in five-year plans; right now, advertising and special editions are at the fore, and the late Michael Jackson, too. Jeep has begun airing two commercials to push its Altitude Editions, Call of Summer and Lovers of the Game, that feature the song "Love Never Felt So Good" from Jackson's upcoming album of new music.
A little more star power - and timely, too - comes from Cleveland Cavaliers point guard Kyrie Irving. While Call of Summer features a few short shots of the former Rookie of the Year and two-time NBA All-Star, Lovers of the Game is all about his white Wrangler Altitude Edition and wrangling shots. You can watch both spots below, and if you want to hear the rest of the music track before the album hits, you can download it from iTunes.