Jeep Wrangler Sahara Yj 4.2 Liter - 5 Speed 4x4 W/ Hardtop on 2040-cars

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Jeep gunning to build 250,000 Cherokees a year

Contrary to what a certain politician may have said last year about Jeep moving to China, the automaker is in fact doing the opposite, with plans to greatly increase the production capacity at its Toledo North Assembly plant in Ohio. The Detroit Free Press is reporting that there are big plans for the 2014 Jeep Cherokee and Toledo North, as a local union president has informed the newspaper that Chrysler is planning to produce around 250,000 examples of the new midsize utility per year.
To put this number into context, 250,000 units is more than what Jeep Liberty sales totaled here over the last three years combined. Even taking into consideration that the 250,000 units will be distributed beyond US borders, that's an ambitious volume figure full-stop - and that's without taking into consideration the new Cherokee's love/hate design. In its favor, though, Jeep is making remarkable inroads globally as of late, and the Cherokee's size could work well in emerging markets. To get that kind of output from Toledo's Cherokee assembly line, Chrysler will reportedly hire 1,105 new workers - that's in addition to the 200 workers already being hired to build the popular Jeep Wrangler, which is itself expected to top 220,000 units this year.

Dongfeng and PSA extend Chinese joint venture

BEIJING/PARIS — China's Dongfeng and Peugeot maker PSA are extending their business cooperation, despite the Chinese company reducing its stake in PSA to help smooth the French carmaker's merger with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA). Dongfeng said on Thursday it had agreed with PSA to extend the duration of their joint venture Dongfeng Peugeot Citroen Automobiles (DPCA). Under the deal, the venture could get the rights to PSA's new brands in China and will benefit from new technologies and intellectual properties, the Chinese company said. PSA was not immediately available for comment. The announcement comes a day after the companies said Dongfeng would reduce its 12.2% stake in PSA by selling 30.7 million shares to the French company. Analysts said the move could smooth U.S. regulatory approval for PSA's roughly $50 billion (GBP38.97 billion) merger with Italian-American carmaker FCA. The sale of Dongfeng's shares in PSA, worth around 680 million euros ($757 million), will leave the Chinese group holding around 4.5% of the merged PSA-FCA, which is set to become the world's fourth-biggest carmaker by sales volumes. "As the cooperation between Dongfeng and PSA deepens, we expect the joint venture to continue making good progress in China," a Dongfeng representative said. On a conference call, Dongfeng said DPCA would have exclusive rights to PSA's Opel cars should the partners agree to bring the brand to China, and enjoy lower prices on car parts imported from PSA. Earlier this year, a document seen by Reuters showed Dongfeng and PSA plan to cut jobs at Wuhan-based DPCA and reduce its number of car plants to try to make the venture more profitable. Chrysler Dodge Fiat Jeep RAM Citroen Peugeot China FCA PSA Dongfeng

2019 Jeep Renegade, Fiat 500X fuel economy revealed, slightly improved

The 2019 Jeep Renegade and Fiat 500X twins each get a new engine option, a turbocharged 1.3-liter four-cylinder. At 177 horsepower and 210 pound-feet of torque, it's substantially more potent than the 160-horsepower turbocharged 1.4-liter engine it replaces, and nearly matches the naturally aspirated 2.4-liter engine for power while beating its 175 pound-feet of torque. But we haven't known until now is how the new engine fares in terms of fuel economy. The numbers are a little tricky to parse, since both the Jeep and Fiat have changed what transmissions are available, as well as what combinations of engine and driveline are offered. We'll start with looking at the Jeep Renegade. It offers both the new turbo engine and the old 2.4-liter engine, but the manual transmission is gone, and the Renegade Trailhawk gets the turbo engine instead of the naturally aspirated one. All the numbers are below. Overall, the new turbo engine coupled with front-drive and the standard nine-speed auto returns better fuel economy than even the old manual-equipped combo. Both all-wheel-drive models do worse, though, with the automatic and the new engine than with the old engine with a manual. The new turbocharged Trailhawk also doesn't do as well on the highway as the old model, but does better in town. Fuel economy is unchanged for the 2.4-liter versions of the Renegade. 2019 Fiat 500X View 11 Photos The Fiat 500X range is simpler to follow, since only one variant is available now: the turbo 1.3-liter engine with all-wheel drive and an automatic. It's not quite as frugal as the fuel-sipping manual, front-drive turbo model from last year, but it does offer noticeable gains over the 2.4-liter versions. All the numbers are below.