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Jeep Compass, Patriot will stick around for 2017 model year

The Jeep Compass and Patriot may be getting a little long in the tooth, but Fiat Chrysler Automobiles isn't ready to put them to pasture. At least not yet. According to Automotive News, FCA plans to continue producing both models until the end of this calendar year. That will also take them both into the 2017 model year as the manufacturer prepares to introduce their shared successor. Jeep will likely build a stockpile of Patriots and Compasses to bridge the gap until the new compact Jeep arrives. The move is just one of many FCA is making to trim unprofitable car models and increase crossover production. The Jeep Cherokee is set to move from its current home in Toledo, OH, to the plant in Belvidere, IL, where the Compass and Patriot are built; the same plant was also home to the recently discontinued Dodge Dart. With Cherokee production gone, the Toledo plant in turn is being retooled to increase Wrangler output by 50 percent, including temporary parallel production of both the new model and the existing one. Meanwhile the replacement for the Compatriots, as they're colloquially known together, is expected to debut this summer in Brazil. Production is slated to take place, both in Brazil and in Mexico, starting January 30, 2017, with production of the Compass and Patriot reportedly to continue in Belvidere until December 23 of this year. By that point, the Compass and Patriot will be a full decade old, having been introduced in 2006 as 2007 models. Along with the Dodge Journey, they're the last FCA products still based on the PM/MK platform shared with Mitsubishi. The Japanese automaker still produces several models on the version it calls GS, including the Outlander, Outlander Sport, and Lancer. Related Video:

Subcompact Crossover Comparo Roundtable | Autoblog Podcast #599

This week, we've got a special episode of the Autoblog Podcast, wherein you'll hear the extended version of the roundtable discussion from our Subcompact Crossover Comparison. In it, Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore is joined by Consumer Editor Jeremy Korzeniewski, Senior Editor, Green, John Beltz Snyder and Associate Editor Joel Stocksdale. After extensive testing (and filming) in Northern Michigan, our editors break down what they liked and loathed about the Honda HR-V, Hyundai Kona, Jeep Renegade and Kia Soul. Grab a cup of coffee with us, and enjoy. Autoblog Podcast #599 Get The Podcast iTunes – Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes RSS – Add the Autoblog Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator MP3 – Download the MP3 directly Feedback Email – Podcast@Autoblog.com Review the show on iTunes Related Video:    

Abandoned Jeep found under twenty feet of snow in Donner Pass

You guys have heard of Donner Pass, right? The dreaded mountain pass in the northern Sierra Nevadas out in California where an ill-fated group of mid-19th century pioneers got lost and fell to cannibalism to survive? Of course you have. Well, it seems that the pass has claimed another victim. It's not a pack of overly-optimistic farmers from Illinois this time, but a sad and lonely Jeep Cherokee. Last Thursday, the California Highway Patrol base at Truckee, California, posted a picture of the rear end of a forlorn-looking XJ with a mangled rear end buried under a veritable mountain of snow and ice. Discovered by a CalTrans truck-mounted snowblower around Serene Lakes near Donner Summit, a CHP representative told Jalopnik they believe the old white XJ has been sitting there since the beginning of winter. More than twenty feet of snow and ice are piled atop the Jeep, a winter's worth of snowplow leavings. Thankfully, the CHP found no bodies or anything else untoward in the XJ when they were arrived. CHP Truckee suggested that the Jeep's owner left it there, perhaps after a breakdown, and left it when successive layers of snow and ice entombed it. Since it's not blocking traffic and doesn't pose a safety hazard, CalTrans decided to leave the Jeep where they found it. The XJ's owner hasn't been identified yet. Hopefully they're not in too much of a hurry to get their Jeep back, because that thing isn't moving until late spring at the earliest. Related Video: News Source: CHP - Truckee, Jalopnik Auto News Weird Car News Jeep SUV snow