2011 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Sahara on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Ram, Jeep redesigns on hold, Alfa Romeo models may come sooner

Last summer, FCA outlined an ambitious five-year plan that sketched out the company's product intentions for each of its brands through the end of 2018. However, even the best strategies sometimes need tweaking. According to Reuters after speaking with unnamed people at auto suppliers, FCA is now possibly delaying at least a dozen projects in North America for a variety of reasons. From vehicle to vehicle, these postponements allegedly last anywhere from just a few months to over a year. The sources from the suppliers claim that in some cases these tweaks are for engineering and design changes. The next-gen Ram 1500 reportedly has among the shorter delays and is being pushed from mid-2017 to November 2017, according to Reuters. Also, the much-discussed future Jeep Wrangler is allegedly moving a little later to July 2017. Among the vehicles purportedly seeing longer delays, the next-gen Grand Cherokee could get pushed back about a year to 2018. That then forces the launch of the three-row, luxury Grand Wagoneer to be even further away. Jeep's upcoming C-segment CUV and the all-new Chrysler 300, Dodge Charger, and Challenger might also see postponements. The one brand allegedly seeing an accelerated plan is Alfa Romeo. Without going into detail, the sources from these suppliers claim that the Italian automaker is getting even more vehicles for its lineup and could get them even faster than planned. "Those plans need to be flexible and fluid, with the potential to add some vehicles, pull some forward and extend the life cycle of others," FCA said to Reuters about all of these allegations. "We look at these programs on a vehicle-by-vehicle basis." Investment in the auto industry has been a major topic for FCA CEO Sergio Marchionne as of late. He believes consolidation is necessary so that companies aren't burning money on the same projects. Related Video: News Source: ReutersImage Credit: Bill Pugliano / Getty Images Plants/Manufacturing Alfa Romeo Chrysler Dodge Fiat Jeep RAM Sergio Marchionne FCA fca us

Jeep and Ram do the pre-Super Bowl ad thing again

Fiat Chrysler is experimenting this year with pre-Super Bowl advertising that isn't — yet — Super Bowl advertising. The automaker's released five ads so far this week for Jeep and Ram. including two more today for the new Ram heavy duty trucks. But at the moment there are no plans to run them during the game. With a new focus on efficiency, the marketing team at Auburn Hills wants to see how the spots play online. The latest long-form Ram ads are called "Roll Rams Roll" and "Fourth Quarter," to go along with the long-form spot, "Make Sure of It," featuring the new voice of Ram commercials, actor Jeremy Renner. The latter spot represents the beginning of a collaboration with Ram and Renner. The wide-ranging actor will provide vocals for Ram's new campaign called "Led or Be Led" that begins later this month. "Roll Rams Roll" presents the classic scenario of two folks arriving at a four-way intersection at the same time. This time, however, one party is a seriously gung-ho tailgating crew in a Ram 3500 HD pulling a giant travel trailer, the other is a ginormous herd of Rams that have come from across the country to see their namesakes play. "Fourth Quarter" celebrates the unheralded workers who, like the best players, give their all until the final whistle, no matter how long it takes for that whistle to blow. Over in the Jeep-verse, fresh off of crushing a 1963 Gladiator, the off-road brand continues the association with the band OneRepublic that began last summer. The group mostly lets the images do the singing in the spot "More Than Just Words," which pairs the lyrics of the U.S. national anthem with representative visuals. FCA marketing honcho Olivier Francois called the week's commercials "a taste of what's to come." Whether that taste comes during the game, we don't know. Spots are rumored to cost $5.5 million for 30 seconds this year, up from $5.2 million last year, which comes on top of production costs that run into the millions. If an ad does well online, there's a chance it could appear during the show in Atlanta. Otherwise, you can check them out above and below, and watch out for rumored multi-brand Twitter shenanigans during the game. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences.

NHTSA upgrading Jeep Grand Cherokee, Dodge Durango headliner fire probe

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration investigation into headliner fires experienced by a small number of Jeep Grand Cherokee and Dodge Durango owners has been upgraded to an engineering analysis, the step before the initiation of a recall. In August last year the investigation began with 146,000 Grand Cherokees from 2012 after three complaints were received, but a report on Edmunds says it has been expanded to include 593,299 vehicles covering the 2011-2013 model years for the Jeep and the Dodge Durango, which uses the same headliner assembly, because of possibly 52 incidents of fire.
In some of those incidents drivers have reported a burning odor, smoke or open flames that were contained to the headliner or migrated to another area of the passenger compartment. The culprit has apparently been found: NHTSA blaming an electrical short in the sun visor vanity light wiring, which is routed under the headliner and held in place by three screws. Chrysler began its own probe into the issue when it was first reported and is still looking into the situation while, "fully supporting the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's investigation."