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Toledo mayor, Jeep champion Michael Collins dies from heart attack

The city of Toledo is mourning the loss of its mayor and the campaign to keep production of the Jeep Wrangler in the Ohio city has lost a champion after Michael Collins suffered a heart attack behind the wheel recently. Born, raised and educated in Toledo, Collins was a Marine Corps veteran and a city councilor. He was elected mayor in 2013 and assumed office on January 2, 2014, a little over a year ago. He was driving an SUV provided by the city in a snow storm on February 1 of this year when he suffered a heart attack and crashed into a utility pole. He remained in critical condition for days until he was taken off artificial life-support. During his relatively short term in office, Collins became an outspoken and energetic advocate of keeping the Jeep plant in Toledo, where it has been assembled for decades. The next-generation Wrangler is set to switch to aluminum construction, which could lead to moving its production to another location, but Collins (alongside Governor John Kasich and others) had worked hard to convince FCA US to keep it in town. Whether his efforts will prove successful remains to be seen, but our hearts go out to his friends, family and constituents. Michael is survived by his wife Sandy, three daughters and eight grandchildren. He was 70 years old.

FCA UConnect fiasco could set over-the-air updates back years

Since cars have become more software dependent, most major automakers have been inching toward enabling over-the-air updates to keep vehicle electronics, ranging from infotainment systems to safety features, current. But there are only two car companies — Fiat Chrysler and Ford —± currently doing OTA updates, and on a limited basis. GM CEO Mary Barra announced last summer that the automaker will launch a new EV architecture and infotainment system capable of over-the-air updates "before 2020." The one exception, per usual, is Tesla. Since the release of the Model S almost six years ago, the maverick EV automaker has made routine OTA software updates a core part of its vehicle platforms and value proposition, and has sent out updates for everything from adjusting ride height to enabling Autopilot, largely without incident. When I've asked automakers why they can't do the same thing, I've heard reasons ranging from running afoul of their dealers (and archiac regulation) to security concerns. Automakers like Ford and General Motors say they want to act like tech companies, which routinely send out OTA updates for a wide range of devices, but overall the car industry still moves at a very cautious snail's pace. And when automakers do try to move faster and take more risks — unlike with a smartphone update, which people bitch about but live with — the consequences can be significant when things go wrong. That's the case with Fiat Chrysler America and its recent public-relations nightmare when an OTA update went awry. The update went out at the end of last week for the Uconnect system in late-model vehicles, and it made head units go into a near continuous reboot, which caused owners to not only lose access to entertainment features, but also critical functions like emergency assistance. Almost immediately, owners took to Twitter to express outrage, and FCA was caught flatfooted. A tweet went out on Monday on the UconnectCares Twitter account that read, "Certain 2017 & 2018 Uconnect systems may experience a reboot every 45-60 seconds. Our Engineering teams are investigating the cause and working towards a resolution.

Daily Driver: 2015 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited X Edition

Daily Driver videos are micro-reviews of vehicles in the Autoblog press fleet, reviewed by the staffers that drive them every day. Today's Daily Driver features the 2015 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited X Edition, reviewed by Adam Morath. You can watch the video above or read a transcript below. Watch more Autoblog videos at /videos. VIDEO TRANSCRIPT Hi, I'm Adam Morath for Autoblog. Now, undoubtedly, one of the coolest things about this job is that you're in and out of so many different vehicles, but, I'll be honest, there are times where, if you're in very similar vehicles, they can start to run together a little bit. That's why I love getting into a car like this that just snaps you right out of it because it's so unique and so different from anything else on the market. Of course I'm talking about the Jeep Wrangler. I'm in a 2015 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited. This is the X Edition, which stands for X Games. Jeep is a big title sponsor of the 2015 Aspen X Games and you can see that all over this vehicle. You have white, glossy accent plastic in the interior; mountain graphics throughout the interior and exterior of the vehicle – a nod, obviously, to the winter sports and skiing that you would do out in Aspen. And then in keeping with that mountainous theme, you have an Alpine nine-stereo speaker system. I'll be honest, though, that some of it feels a little overdone to me. For instance, there's a power-bulge in the hood. Credit to Jeep: the vents are actually functional, but this is not the trim I would go for, just personally. It's one of those vehicles that people are always wondering, "I really like the look of it [and] I like the capability, but could I live with a Wrangler?" It's the same sort of question you'll get from people who are looking at a sports car, "could I actually live with this is my daily driver?" And I have to say, Jeep has come a long way – Wrangler, in particular, has come a long way – in terms of driving comfort. Of course, don't expect "Lexus quiet." You can probably hear it's a big noisy in the cabin. It's a bit of a bumpy ride. There are things about this vehicle that I could see being annoying in your day-to-day life. For instance, the door: it's essentially an external hinge on the door, but it doesn't stay open for you. So, if you're on any sort of a tilt, the door will come back in and you have to just prop it open with your leg. Little things like that.