2017 Jeep Wrangler Chief Edition on 2040-cars

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2018 Jeep Wrangler to get full-time four-wheel-drive option

It appears the next-generation Wrangler will take another small step to modernization and civility. JL Wrangler Forums reports that the new Wrangler is showing up on dealer computers along with a variety of options. One of them is the inclusion of a full-time four-wheel-drive system called Selec-Trac. This means that it will be possible to simply leave the Wrangler in four-wheel drive all the time, without worrying about damaging it when pavement is dry, much like the all-wheel-drive systems on most modern crossovers. This might concern Wrangler purists, but there are a couple of reasons not to fret. For one, although Jeep doesn't have a Selec-Trac system on the market to compare to right now, the old Selec-Trac system offered on the Jeep Liberty had a low-range for off-roading, so this one probably will, too. For another, only one kind of Wrangler will offer this feature, according to JL Wrangler Forums. The Selec-Trac system will only be available on the four-door Wrangler Unlimited Sahara, the version that's arguably the most luxurious, and the body-style with the longest wheelbase. All the others will only have the classic selectable four-wheel drive. There is another interesting feature noted in the JL Wrangler Forums collection of information. Apparently the four-cylinder engine will have a combination starter and generator driven by a belt. This is interesting, because the only other car we've seen with such a component is the new Audi A8. In that application, the belt-driven starter and generator is used for smoother, faster starting and stopping to save fuel. We would guess the Jeep's system works in a similar way, though likely without the support of a 48-volt electrical system. We will likely know more when the new Wrangler makes its debut, which is expected at the L.A. auto show this year. Related Video: Featured Gallery 2018 Jeep Wrangler Spy Shots Related Gallery 2018 Jeep Wrangler Hood Spy Shots News Source: JL Wrangler ForumsImage Credit: KGP Photography Jeep SUV

Daily Driver: 2015 Jeep Renegade Sport 4x4

Daily Driver videos are micro-reviews of vehicles in the Autoblog test fleet, reviewed by the staffers who drive them every day. Today's Daily Driver features the 2015 Jeep Renegade Sport 4x4, reviewed by Adam Morath. Something to note: The vehicle tested here is a pre-production unit, and we had some issues with the MySky removable roof system. (Associate editor Brandon Turkus mentioned these problems in his Quick Spin.) FCA confirms that improvements were made for production-spec cars. You can watch the video above or read a transcript below. Watch more Autoblog videos at /videos. [00:00:00] Hey, this is Adam Morath with another Daily Driver. Today, we're in the 2015 Jeep Renegade and I'm excited to be driving this in a Sport trim level. That's the lowest trim that they offer it in. I say I'm excited, because often we get the cars to totally spec-ed out to the max, the automaker trying to show off what they can do with the car but it doesn't always give you a realistic view of how most customers are going to spec the car, and I think with the Renegade being the entry-level model for Jeep now [00:00:30] replacing the outgoing Patriot and Compass, it makes sense to drive this in the Sport trim. We do have it in 4x4, comes in at just around $23,000. It's powered by a turbocharged 1.4 liter inline 4 and we've got it, made it to the 6-speed manual transmission, which is pretty cool. Again you can see FCA's fingerprints on this car. If they wanted to do well in Europe, of course you've got to offer it with a manual and that's nice for consumers here to have that choice of having a stick shift in the Jeep again. [00:01:00] That's kind of fun. It produces 160-horsepower, 184 pound-feet of torque. It's got a little pack to it. I wouldn't call it sporty but it's enough for a vehicle of this size. This is a pretty basic version of the renegade. The only options we have on it are the AC, the roof rails, 4-wheel drive, which is a must here in Michigan and then these MySky roof panels, which I'll get to in a minute, but that takes us from a base price of $18,000, the cheapest you'll be able to get into a Renegade for [00:01:30] up to about $23,700, which is where we're at. Yes, these are MySky roof panels. It's a totally new feature on the Renegade that Jeep is trying out and I think it's pretty cool. It's like a tee top system, except the panels aren't side by side. You have one in the front and one in the back.

Stellantis sees vehicle loan durations extended amid banking turmoil

Stellantis is seeing clients seeking longer-term financing and leasing deals for their vehicles as a consequence of higher global interest rates, the carmaker's head for the business said. Chief Affiliates Officer Philippe de Rovira said loans which normally had a three-year maturity were now increasingly moved to four years. "This allows customers to get a car for a monthly instalment that is similar to that they had before," he said. The world's third largest carmaker by sales on Tuesday announced it had completed a plan announced in late 2021 to reshuffle and simplify its leasing and financing operations in Europe. Under its terms, Stellantis created a 50-50 single long term multi-brand leasing company named Leasys with Credit Agricole Consumer Finance. It also set up local joint ventures in European countries for its new Stellantis Financial Services unit, formerly Banque PSA Finance, with BNP Paribas Personal Finance and Santander Consumer Finance. "These banks have always had better funding conditions than those we can have as an automaker," de Rovira said. Benefits of the plan included cutting the number of financing and leasing entities the group runs in each country and the number of IT systems it uses, with expected savings exceeding 30% in this particular area, he added. De Rovira said the group had a huge portfolio of orders it had not yet delivered due to supply chain shortages impacting production. "Demand is not our main issue. The issue is to deliver as fast as we can cars that are in our order portfolio, which is still at record levels," he said. The group aims to expand its corporate leased vehicle fleet to more than one million units in 2026 and to double net income from its so-called banking activities to 5.8 billion euros ($6.3 billion) by 2030. De Rovira said Stellantis was not seeing a downward trend in vehicle pricing. "Probably the significant price increases we have seen in 2021 and 2022 will not be repeated because the context is changing, but for the moment we don't see decreases, we see stabilisation". ($1 = 0.9188 euros) (Reporting by Giulio Piovaccari and Gilles Guillaume; Editing by Jan Harvey) Earnings/Financials Plants/Manufacturing Alfa Romeo Chrysler Dodge Jeep RAM