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Mazda2 nets Japan Car of the Year, Cherokee first US model to ever crack top 10

The 2015 Mazda2 is quite high up on our must-drive list. Yes, the teeny, tiny successor to the 100-horsepower five-door is worth getting excited over, largely because the previous generation was one of the absolute best smiles-per-dollar values on the market.
While we eagerly await for our opportunity to take to the 2's helm, our expectations of the new car have just been heightened thanks to its win in Japan's Car of the Year competition. Called "Demio" in the land of the rising sun, Japanese journalists handed out Mazda's second COTY award since the CX-5 took the title in 2012.
In more surprising news, the new Jeep Cherokee has made the list of 10 Best Cars in Japan. The Jeep's triumph marks the first time an American car has cracked the top ten, finishing eighth. It's not, however, the first Fiat Chrysler vehicle to snag the title, following in the footsteps of the Alfa Romeo Giulietta and Fiat Panda. Still, the fact that an American brand can make such impressive inroads into the traditionally tough-to-crack Japanese market is a seriously big deal.

2020 Jeep Gladiator withstands the pressure in pre-Super Bowl commercial

With hype comes expectation, and with expectation comes pressure. The 2020 Jeep Gladiator has a lot to live up to as one of the most built-up debuts of 2018, but a new commercial promises it's ready to shoulder the burden, quite literally. The Jeep ad is set in a junkyard and opens to the jaws of a scrap crusher. A freight loader is seen putting a beautiful 1963 Jeep Gladiator into the scrapper before it begins to close on the piece of classic metal. Before it's fully demolished, the Gladiator fights back. It finds its inner strength when it transforms into one of the new 2020 models and emerges triumphant against the steel jaws of death. "Gladiator is back" ends the one-minute spot For those worried about the disappointing scene of a '63 getting destroyed, there's bad news and good news. Yes, that was a real car, not CGI, so it did indeed get smashed. But, Jeep says it was sourced from an online scrap site and was "inoperable." Why it couldn't have been restored, though, is beyond us. The Gladiator made its debut at the 2018 Los Angeles Auto Show as a mid-sized Wrangler-based pickup, complete with removable doors and a folding windshield. It has two Dana 44 solid front and rear axles, and is powered by a 285-horsepower V6, with a turbodiesel V6 on the way. Look to see the Gladiator in plenty of prime-time commercial slots all week leading up to the Super Bowl. Related Video:

Marchionne wants to nearly double Jeep sales by 2018

Jeep just keeps breaking its own sales records. A couple of weeks ago, the off-road brand announced its worldwide sales exceeded one million units for the first time, marking its third consecutive global record and the fifth straight year of sales increases here in the US. But FCA isn't about to stop there. TheDetroitBureau.com reports that chief executive Sergio Marchionne, speaking to the media at the Detroit Auto Show, has announced a new sales target for the Jeep division: By 2018, he wants to see Jeep sell 1.9 million units in a single year, nearly doubling its all-time record. The expansion will surely encompass new products, with the all-new Renegade just warming up, a next-generation Wrangler on the way and a reborn Grand Wagoneer in the pipeline, as well. But the focus of FCA's preparations to reach the new target is on production capacity. While it's not clear whether the Toledo, OH plant where half of all the Jeeps sold around the world are currently built will continue to host the next Wrangler, FCA is expanding production overseas. The Renegade is already being built alongside the Fiat 500X in Italy, where another 1,000 workers are being re-hired and where another factory is set to start producing Jeeps, as well. A Renegade-based variant for the South American market will soon be built in Brazil, and by the end of this year, Jeep aims to start local production in China.