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Millionth Jeep Wrangler JK to roll off line this morning

According to a report on the Chrysler Communications Facebook page and one fairly grainy image of the production line, at around 11:00AM Eastern this morning, the one-millionth Jeep Wrangler JK will roll out of the company's Toledo assembly plant.
The third-generation or "JK" Jeep Wrangler has been around since the 2007 model year, and has obviously been more popular than ever. With a greater than ever number of trim levels, two-door and four-door Unlimited models and hardy off-roading Rubicon packages, the JK offers more to choose from than ever for those looking for something in a traditional Jeep. In fact, with the modern 3.6-liter Pentastar V6 powering it, the 2012 model year saw more than 140k Wrangers sold here in the US; the best-ever figure for the model.
With a model refresh due out for the Wrangler in 2015 (along with the likely addition of a diesel engine option), we expect that sales will continue to roll right along, too.

Jeep Grand Commander three-row crossover SUV revealed in Beijing

Jeep has finally revealed its first three-row SUV since the Commander, and the new one is called, as we expected, Grand Commander. And it looks just like we expected from leaked images and patent drawings. It pulls a bit of inspiration from the Jeep Yuntu concept, but it generally looks like a much bigger, stretched-out Compass. We do see a bit of Renegade inspiration in the D-pillar, though. Interestingly, the Grand Commander isn't really bigger than our Grand Cherokee. The Grand Commander is just under 192 inches long, which is only 2 inches longer than the Grand Cherokee. But the Grand Commander's wheelbase is four inches shorter. It's also about two inches narrower than the Grand Cherokee. This is all interesting considering the Grand Commander's greater passenger capacity. Also interesting is the Grand Commander's powertrain. It's only available with a turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder, likely lifted from the Jeep Cherokee and Wrangler. If so, it's been detuned, and it now makes just 231 horsepower and 258 pound-feet of torque as opposed to the 270 horsepower and 295 pound-feet in the other Jeeps. The Grand Commander's four-cylinder is also paired to a nine-speed automatic, and it can be had with either two-wheel or four-wheel drive. The question of course is, will the Grand Commander come to America? It would fill a gap in the Jeep lineup, since the brand has no three-row vehicles. There have been many rumors of a three-row Jeep, possibly called Grand Wagoneer, as well as Grand Commander prototypes running around the U.S. But the size of the Grand Commander has us questioning whether it would be brought here, or if Jeep would develop a larger three-row, maybe based on Durango, for our market. Related Video: Featured Gallery Jeep Grand Commander View 10 Photos Image Credit: Jeep Beijing Motor Show Jeep Crossover SUV

Chrysler registers Trackhawk trademark

There may not be many ways to forecast what an automaker is planning for the future, but there are some. Trademark applications are one of them, and Chrysler has just applied with the US Patent and Trademark Office to protect the name "Trackhawk." The question is, what's it planning on using it for? We don't know for sure, but we can put together an educated guess or two. And one guess is that Jeep will use the name to replace the letters SRT on the performance version of the Grand Cherokee.
How do we figure, you ask? From a number of developments. For starters, the SRT division has been reintegrated into the Dodge brand. Those letters currently appear on only two vehicles from outside the Dodge lineup: one is the Grand Cherokee SRT, and the other is the Chrysler 300 SRT. We've heard ruminations (however unconfirmed) that the latter could be either discontinued or possibly relabeled, and if the same proves true of the GC, the Trackhawk name could serve as a on-road performance counterpart to the Trailhawk label applied to off-road versions of models like the Cherokee and Renegade.
Logical it may be, but it's hardly a foregone conclusion. The Trackhawk name could just as easily be used for a new concept (like the Trailhawk name was in 2007), for another kind of trim level or for something else entirely. In fact we don't even know for sure it'll be used by the Jeep brand specifically, or used at all for that matter. Automakers have been known, after all, to register names they don't end up using.