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Ram 1500 diesel overlander, off-road Jeep Wrangler show present and future of Mopar

Ram and Jeep both have some heavily customized off-roaders for SEMA this year. The Ram is a 2020 1500 Rebel with the diesel engine and an overlanding theme, and the Jeep is a 2020 Wrangler Unlimited with a general off-road theme. Each features loads of Mopar accessories, and, in the case of the Ram, accessories from other companies. They both have a few parts that haven't made it to market yet. 2020 Ram 1500 Rebel View 16 Photos 2020 Ram 1500 Rebel OTG The Ram 1500 has the suffix of OTG, which stands for off-the-grid. It's designed to be an overlanding vehicle perfect for getting you far away from civilization and still have your needs taken care of. As such, the new EcoDiesel with its strong fuel economy and large amounts of torque is a good engine choice, and the Rebel has plenty of rugged style to begin with. That style is augmented by some special concept Mopar parts such as a high-flow grille complete with flow-through Ram block letters, a la the Chevy "Flow Tie," and steel bumper with a retro-fitted Power Wagon winch. Another concept part is the intake snorkel. Dodge also dug into the existing catalog of Ram parts and added the base Tradesman's vinyl flooring for easy interior cleaning, as well as the Tradesman's rear bumper that doesn't have cut-outs for exhaust. The exhaust was then tucked away behind the bumper, giving the truck a better departure angle. Many ready-to-purchase accessories have been added to the Ram 1500 OTG, too. From the Mopar catalog comes off-road lights, rock rails, wheels and bolt-on fender flares. The utility rack, basket and tent all came from Yakima. A roof-mounted solar array along with sliding cooking areas and bed-mounted cooler all come from Dometic. A representative from Dodge also showed how the split tailgate can be used as an easily accesible place to have fold out cooking or table space. 2020-jeep-wrangler-mopar-accessories-01 View 4 Photos 2020 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited While the Ram has parts from all around the aftermarket world, the Jeep Wrangler Unlimited has been outfitted entirely with Mopar parts. And most of those parts are already available, with two exceptions. On one side of the truck, Jeep is showing off some concept mesh covers for its tube-doors. The idea behind them is that they still allow for plenty of air flow, but help keep shrubbery, mud clods and other things from getting in. They're also simple to install or remove, since the slide on and zip up.

FCA and Peugeot reportedly agree on merger

Citing a Wall Street Journal report, the Detroit Free Press says "Fiat Chrysler and PSA Groupe have agreed to merge." The Journal reported on talks between the two car companies only yesterday. It's said that Peugeot's board met yesterday to approve the deal, FCA's board met today, and an announcement could come as soon as tomorrow, Thursday. Both automakers have released statements, but neither company has released any information beyond admitting to ongoing talks. If the merger happens, the combined entity would become the world's fourth-largest carmaker with a $50 billion valuation, slotting in behind Toyota, the Volkswagen Group, and the Renault Nissan Mitsubishi alliance. Among the merger options possible, "an all-stock merger of equals" is the one analysts and Moody's seem to give the best grade. The reported merger would come about four months after FCA walked away from merger talks with Renault. FCA said the French government scuppered those talks over the role of Nissan in a reformed entity, but there were also brewing issues with French unions, and ongoing turmoil among Renault and Nissan leadership thanks to continuing fallout from ex-CEO Carlos Ghosn's arrest last year. FCA makes most of its revenue in the U.S. and rules Italy, while Peugeot is the second-best-selling automaker in Europe with its own brand in France and Opel in Germany. The two companies already have a partnership in Europe making vans, one that FCA CEO Mike Manley has spoken highly of. Among the list of obvious benefits in a potential merger, FCA would get access to Peugeot's small, modern platforms, $10.2 billion in cash, and electrified and hybrid architecture developments, the latter especially important to FCA as those are fields where it lags. Peugeot would get much easier access to the U.S. market, and the money-printing brands Jeep and Ram. A merged carmaker would have combined sales of nearly 9 million a year, based on 2018 results. By comparison, both Volkswagen and Toyota sell over 10 million cars a year, while the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance almost 11 million. Peugeot CEO Carlos Tavares has proved he knows how to do turnarounds and mergers. After leaving a position as Carlos Ghosn's right-hand man in 2012, Tavares took over Peugeot in 2014, navigated a bailout from the French government and China's Dongfeng Motors in 2015, and turned PSA into a regional powerhouse.

Jeep Renegade configurator switches on

Less than a week after letting loose with pricing information for its 2015 Renegade, Jeep has powered up the configurator for its new compact CUV, giving us our first complete look at pricing for the model's healthy options catalog. If you've messed around with any of FCA's other online configurators, the Renegade's will be immediately familiar. Pick a trim, interior and exterior color, optional extras and packages, and you're done. Of course, we don't write these posts just to let you know about a configurator going live. We do them because it gives us an excuse to mess about with all the different varieties of a new model, and, on occasion, to build something surprisingly expensive or cheap, just to see if it can be done. The Renegade certainly has no issues when it comes to the former. If you want the priciest model, you'll need the $25,995 Trailhawk, which can be priced up to $33,330. We got to that figure by adding the $1,495 Trailhawk Premium Group (heated, powered leather seats, dual-zone climate control, heated steering wheel, 40/20/40 split-rear seats), the $595 Safety and Security Group I (blind-spot monitoring with cross-traffic assist and an alarm), the $395 Trailer Tow Group, the $1,395 powered MySky system, a $150 hood decal (which might mean that you can get a Trailhawk without a black stripe), a $1,295 navigation system with satellite radio, a $495 nine-speaker stereo, a $295 push-button starter, a $200 remote starter and a $75 tonneau cover. Will you need all of those options? Not really. But many of them would certainly fall into the "must-have" category for customers. Head over to Jeep's consumer page and mess about with the configurator, and let us know what you think of the full pricing (and what your ideal spec looks like!) in Comments. Related Video: