2014 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon, Sahara on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Fiat Chrysler and Peugeot boards meet to finalize merger

MILAN/PARIS — The boards of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and Peugeot will meet separately on Tuesday to discuss finalizing an initial agreement for a $50 billion merger to create the world's number four carmaker, sources said. A source close to FCA said the two companies could announce the signing of a binding memorandum early on Wednesday, followed by a conference call to explain further details later in the day. The two mid-sized carmakers announced plans six weeks ago for a tie-up to help them deal with big challenges in the industry, including a global demand downturn and the need to develop costly cleaner cars to meet looming anti-pollution rules. Ahead of the meetings, entities representing the Peugeot family, Etablissements Peugeot Freres (EPF) and FFP, unanimously approved a proposed memorandum of understanding for the planned merger, a source familiar with the situation said. FCA and PSA have said they would seek to finalize a deal by year-end to create a group with 8.7 million in annual vehicle sales. That would put it fourth globally behind Volkswagen, Toyota and the Renault-Nissan alliance. PSA's Carlos Tavares will be chief executive and FCA's John Elkann — the scion of Italy's Agnelli family, which controls FCA through their holding company Exor — chairman of the combined company. The group will include the Fiat, Jeep, Dodge, Ram, Chrysler, Alfa Romeo, Maserati, Peugeot, DS, Opel and Vauxhall brands, allowing it to serve mass and premium passenger car markets as well as those for trucks and light commercial vehicles. Related Video:       Chrysler Dodge Fiat Jeep RAM Citroen Peugeot

Jeep driver nearly gets washed away by fast moving river

Just because you can do something doesn't mean that you should. For example, you should never attempt to cross a fast-moving river in a bone stock Grand Cherokee no matter how shallow the river looks. Especially if you don't know what you're doing. A video posted recently to the Facebook group Jeep EXPERIENCE, shows an inexperienced jeep driver learning that lesson the hard way. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. The video starts innocently enough, with a group of off-roaders watching one of their friends attempt to ford a shallow looking river. Things quickly go sideways however, when the driver of the silver Grand Cherokee just plunges right in and quickly gets in over his head. The river is moving faster than the driver thinks it is, the driver panics, makes some bad decisions, then the jeep is turned over and swept downstream. Eventually, the jeep is hauled out by a Land Rover after a long comedy of errors that involves one guy losing his trousers to the current and the Cherokee ingesting untold gallons of water. What went wrong here? Well, It's pretty obvious from the video that the Cherokee driver didn't have a clear idea of where he was going or about the condition of the riverbed. He chickened out halfway across the river, and in what appears to be a misguided attempt at turning back, he reverses, digs himself deeper in the riverbed, then turned broadside on into the current. When he changes his mind again and decides to just gun it for the opposite shore, he drives directly into a deep water hazard that would have been obvious to an experienced off-roader. At that point the jeep and the driver were doomed. Hopefully the driver learned a lesson here, and hopefully he didn't pollute that river too much with the jeep's fluids. Related Video: News Source: Jeep EXPERIENCE Weird Car News Jeep Land Rover Driving Safety SUV Off-Road Vehicles Videos river

Jeep sets all-time sales record in 2012

Last year was good to Jeep. Chrysler has announced its trail-rated brand set an all-time global sales record in 2012 by moving 701,626 units. That number easily surpasses the previous record set in 1999 when Jeep sold 675,494 models. All told, the brand saw a 19-percent sales increase worldwide over 2011, and much of that swell can be traced directly to the Wrangler. While the Grand Cherokee led Jeep sales, the Wrangler posted record numbers both globally and within the US, moving 194,142 and 141,669 units in each market, respectively.
Meanwhile, the Compass beat its previous global sales record with 103,321 units rolling off of dealer lots. In the US, Jeep sold 62,010 Patriot units, breaking that model's previous record as well. Jeep's impressive performance in 2012 marks the second year in a row the brand has seen double-digit percentage sales increases. Check out the full press release below.