If there is one vehicle in the 50-and-older club that has stuck to it’s roots the best, it is (arguably) the Jeep. Be it CJ, YJ, TJ, Wrangler, Scrambler, Jeepster, whatever, the basic idea has remained: A durable, simple body-on-steel frame go-anywhere and do anything vehicle that could trace it’s lineage all the way back to the GP vehicles of World War II. So the words coming of of Sergio Marchionne lately that involve the Jeep Wrangler are probably going to light some nerves on fire.
According to Allpar, Marchionne believes the Wrangler needs a hell of a diet in order to bring it’s MPG numbers up to par, and is looking at an aluminum unibody setup as a possible replacement for the body-on-frame construction. This would have the Wrangler ditch the 3.6 Pentastar V6 for the 3.2 V6, possibly the Hurricane 2.0L four-cylinder, and in the only good news out in this story, a diesel is being seriously examined for the U.S. market. Some typical Wrangler features might call it a day, such as the folding windshield. Additionally, the suspension may see changes as well, with the live axles being ditched for a fully-independant setup. Jeep fanatics have long been against IFS/IRS regardless of whether or not the performance is as on-par or better than the solid axles replaced for the most part.
But the biggest bit of controversy over all of the Jeep news right now is that if FCA does indeed make a shift to aluminum, then there is a chance that Wrangler production will have to be moved from the Toledo, Ohio plant, which has been building Jeeps for decades. Naturally, UAW Local 12, which oversees the hourly workers at the Toledo complex, is on serious edge about what decision is going on in FCA HQ right now, even though Marchionne has said that there will be little to no impact to workers at Toledo.
Jeep enthusiasts are some of the most change-resistant in the automotive world. When the YJ Wrangler sported square headlights, you saw the “Real Jeeps Have Round Headlights” mantra everywhere. When the TJ came out, the coil suspension was derided for being inferior to leaf spring tech. When the four-door Jeeps came out, lots of people just shook their heads. Yet the Wrangler has been selling as fast as they are manufactured and according to Marchionne, the plant is at full capacity now, and that if something doesn’t change soon, that the Wrangler will become too costly to continue.
I for one love the idea of an aluminum bodied turbo diesel wrangler. It’s always a good idea to add lightness. The folding windshield is iconic, but how many people really go through the effort to fold it down. I do think it needs to retain solid axles, but the aftermarket will respond regardless. To me the CJ7 is the ultimate Jeep, but not everyone can live with a CJ, including my wife (actually she hates most of my vehicles) Jeep knows if it don’t make $ it don’t make the cut. Now build a Ram based Wagoner already.
Here’s a lesson in corporate logic.
Problem.
People love the product you make.
You the maker can barely keep up with the demand for the product.
Corporate solution
In an effort to satisfy the growing purchase orders, you remove everything about the product that customers love.
Result
People now hate the product you make there by lessening the demand. Which means lower sales .
OH? ……..damn.
That’s not how it works D.J. The auto market is not driven by enthusiasts, it’s everyday consumers that will use the Jeeps to drive their kids to school and the mall. Auto companies are at heart run by car guys, but they have to make compromises due to industry regulations for crash safety (big issue for the Wrangler’s future), fuel economy (Wranglers are not aerodynamic), and then they have to deal with all the consumers that buy the product and complain about the ride quality and handling of the solid axles.
Wrong again Sumgai – The automotive market is ruled lock , stock and barrel by the Bean Counters and Major Investors at the sharp end of the companies who in fact could not care less about the Consumer , Enthusiast , Safety regs , Fuel regs or the Pundits who report on their actions . Their sole and only concern being P-R-O-F-I-T-S on their investments regardless of what it takes to get them
Any genuine car guys left at said companies have no say what so ever about anything anymore including the C’s [ CEO’s CFO’s etc ] They all to a number today being in the unenviable position of being responsible for everything but having authority [ and decision making abilities ] over nothing . All decisions these days being made by the above mentioned Bean Counters and major Investors
I thought the same thing when reading this…The demand is so high that you want to change everything. It sounds like the government is involved with the choices being made at this company. It makes sense for no one, not even them in the long run. If the sales drop, then change. Idiots everywhere.
A traditional Jeep-type vehicle built under any other name would get laughed outta town for being a dinosaur, but as a “Jeep” it’s an icon…the enthusiast market has kept it that way and that’s why there’s such value in the name and that in turn is why those everyday consumers buy it. They’ll put up with some inconveniences to have one, or if they’d rather tone it down there are the wagon/suv models. However, when the mom next door buys a Jeep only to have the enthusiast up the road sniff at it because they don’t make hardcore vehicles any more, that Jeep name is going to kinda lose it’s luster and she may be looking at a Toyota next time.
Aluminum doesn’t hold up well to repeated twisting and flex, IFS is rarely seen where people go over rocks etc. Hope they figure out the name still needs the old flagship and don’t make a New Coke out of it.
Everything you say is absolutely correct and spot on the money . The problem being as long as Marchionne and FCA are calling the shots nothing you [ or I ] are saying matters in the slightest .
Read the Allpar article and the conclusion I came to is the EPA with their latest fuel mileage regulations are to thank for this. 17 / 24 mpg are tough for FCA to absorb from a small to mid size SUV. The fact that sells so well shows its not a problem with the product.
I think a wait and see approach is in order. The FCA management isn’t prefect, but they’ve far exceeded their predecessors in good decisions. Keep in mind these are the same people who green lighted a 707hp blown V8 in a sedan…
If you read beyond the Allpar article which is in fact a pantload of Smoke & Mirrors propaganda and read what Marchionne has repeatedly been saying about the future of the Wrangler both in the US but especially in the EU and Italian press for the last 24 months is ..
The main feature the Wrangler is about to lose to the very great loss of everyone with half a concern over the future of the Wrangler or ever considered seriously off roading one is …
Its bespoke and body on frame construction . With its future [ according to Stronzetto Marchionne ] being Unibody construction based on the same FIAT/Alfa/Suzuki platform as the latest and not so greatest JEEPs as well as the FIAT 500L
When it comes to Marchionne .. forget anything the US press says about him or his plans ..Read the foreign press where he fully exposes himself for everything that he is
Want yet another reason to go home and drink [ profusely ] ?
GM just announced a mandatory Stop Sale on all new 2015 Chevy Colorado’s and GMC Canyons . Because of course GM learns so well from their past mistakes . Not to mention placing the likes of T Bejma in charge of quality and production
Ahhh … so thats where I put the Stranahan’s … Belly up to the bar gents . This ones on me 😉
Yep. Just got one of those in at the dealership I work at. Nice-looking truck, seems better built than the old Isuzu-based ones, although it does use that 3.6L VVT abortion. But the damn thing costs $34,000 and it’s not even fully loaded! That’s freaking 1/2-ton pickup money for a mini-truck
Thats the price range Toyota has been at for the last ten years and they sell
As long as the Wrangler continues to be the most off road capable vehicle the public can buy, they will. I laugh so hard when I read hard core off road guys saying they will ditch Jeep and go buy something from the competition if Jeep goes with IFS/IRS. Go where? who makes anything near as off road capable?
I bet the next Wrangler is very different than the current one, but I also bet it will still be the most off road friendly ride you can buy. And it will be way more fuel efficient and comfortable for the “posers” that make up 90% or more of Wrangler sales.
Hey, just like the Cherokee, Jeep management is going to put an Italian bullet between the Wranglers eyes.
Hmmm, the value of my 2005 TJ just doubled.
The wrangler is as iconic as it gets, the new crossovers are fuel efficient enough to offset the wrangler numbers. If they kill off the wrangler it will be the end of jeep. And making an ifs “wrangler” will mean it’s death. It will not be half as capable as it was before.
I like Jeeps! Wouldn’t own one because of all the reasons why Chrysler wants to change them. They are heavy, they ride for crap, they get terrible gas mileage, and they are expensive for what you get. Sort of like a Harley Davidson. So that said should they change them? Hell no! Keep what you got and add another model. Jeep has no trouble coming up with other models. Dump that crap for a car Patriot and Compass and add a smaller, lighter version in true retro style of the original WWII Jeep with modern suspension, four banger. Save that sweet running Eco Diesel for the current models. I’d buy it!
This is exactly what happens when American companies are sold to foreign countries, they don’t know what Americans want, need or like, they are ignorant to our ways, they couldn’t study us long enough to figure us out.Yet, they want to manufacture and sell us crap.As an autobody tech of over 36 years, they can stuff it.
Everyone is talking as if an aluminum unibody and IFS / IRS are a foregone conclusion.
They aren’t.
Jeep has done concept cars that were studies in weight reduction for the Wrangler – they got it down in the lower 3’s.
An aluminum unibody Wrangler would be kind of a bummer because of metal fatigue and difficulty in modifying, true.
A high travel IFS / IRS steel unibody would be awesome, though. A live axle steel unibody would also be very, very cool. Sort of a Cherokee reboot in Wrangler badges.
Has everyone here forgotten how capable the Grand Cherokees are? Unibody: Check. IFS: Check. IRS: Check. Add traction, add adjustable suspension and Offroad Badassery: Check.
The trick is that not just any yahoo with a MIG gun can “improve” on such a vehicle, and that is why so many panties get in a bunch.