2001 Jeep Cherokee on 2040-cars

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What will Detroit do with the abandoned AMC headquarters?

As with so many other industrial and residential properties in Detroit, the former headquarters for the American Motors Corporation is having a hard time finding a reputable buyer. In October the Wayne County Treasurer held a tax foreclosure auction of 25,000 properties that included the AMC building, the starting bid being $500. Nicholas Casab won the building for $500, but the county voided the sale when Casab didn't pay the $232,000 in back property taxes. Detroit authorities haven't commented on the failed sale, but the city has until January 4 to decide if it wants to keep the building. If it doesn't want to hold onto it, the 1.5-million-square-foot property on 57 acres might be ceded to the Wayne County Land Bank Corporation. No matter who holds the deed come January 5, all anyone really wants is for someone to take possession of the building who will actually turn it into something useful and viable. The property opened in 1927 as a factory for the Kelvinator Corporation. Over the following decades, Kelvinator merged with the Nash Motor Company, and that merged entity merged with Hudson Motor Car Co, becoming American Motors. Chrysler took over the building in 1987 when it bought AMC, then shuttered it in 2009. The complex has produced refrigerators, Sikorsky helicopters, Jeeps, AMCs, and was used as an engineering center for Jeeps and other Chrysler products. Having been through several hands in the past six years, it is cited as part of the cycle of abandonment plaguing Detroit. Related Video: News Source: Detroit Free Press Government/Legal Chrysler Jeep Auctions Detroit amc

Jeep reportedly releasing Peugeot-based, Fiat-built baby 'ute in 2022

Jeep is now under the same Stellantis-branded roof as Peugeot, among other European carmakers. It will take full advantage of its new ownership to quickly develop and launch an entry-level car, according to a new report. Anonymous sources told industry trade journal Automotive News that the yet-unnamed model will be positioned directly below the Renegade. Rumors of a baby Jeep have popped up time and again in the past few years, and most claimed it would share its underpinnings with the Fiat Panda 4x4, an immensely capable city car that's a regular sight in the Alps. Those plans have allegedly changed; the soft-roader is now being designed around the Common Modular Platform (CMP) that underpins the Peugeot 208 and the Citroen C4, among other models. Using the CMP platform unlocks several benefits. It's much newer than the architecture found under the Panda, it's highly modular, and it was developed with gasoline, diesel, hybrid, and electric powertrains in mind. It sounds like the first Peugeot-based Jeep will come standard with front-wheel-drive, and it will offer an optional four-wheel-drive powertrain consisting of a longitudinally-mounted engine that will spin the front wheels and an electric motor that will put the rear wheels into motion. Odds are the motor will be capable of powering the crossover on its own, too. Most of the powertrain components will come from Peugeot. CMP wasn't designed for hardcore off-roading, so we're expecting more of a shrunken Renegade for the boulevard than a downsized Wrangler for the trail. Fiat will build Jeep's smallest model in Tychy, Poland, in a factory that currently churns out the Fiat 500 and the Lancia Ypsilon. Production is tentatively scheduled to start in 2022, and it's too early to tell if we'll see the crossover in America. Its pocket-sized dimensions might keep it away from our shores. It will certainly increase Jeep sales on the European market, where models that sell relatively well in the United States regularly post dismal sales figures. For example, the Grand Cherokee is a seen as a leviathan of a family hauler and the Wrangler is heavily taxed. Peugeot's CMP platform will allegedly underpin the production version of the Alfa Romeo Tonale concept, too. Pegged below the Stelvio, the crossover was originally developed on the Renegade's bones — some sources claim that's still the case, and Alfa Romeo hasn't shed light on the matter. Reportedly, Fiat will later get a CMP-based car.

Chrysler recalling 630k Jeep models worldwide

Despite its refusal to recall 2.7 million Jeep Grand Cherokee and Liberty models this week over a gas tank fire risk, Chrysler will be recalling 630,000 Jeep Compass (pictured), Patriot and Wrangler vehicles around the globe for a pair of entirely different reasons.
The affected Compass and Patriot models are all from the 2010 to 2012 model years - 254,000 in the United States, 45,400 in Canada and 109,000 elsewhere in the world. In these models, a software error may result in the late deployment of the side airbags and seatbelt tensioners. In the event of a crash, failure of these systems could result in more serious injuries for the vehicle's occupants.
Jeep's go-anywhere Wrangler also faces a separate recall due to power steering fluid lines that can possibly wear a hole in the transmission oil cooler line. According to Chrysler, the vehicles could then leak fluid, possibly damaging the transmissions. Roughly 221,100 Wrangler models are being recalled because of this issue, all of which are fitted with Jeep's 3.6-liter Pentastar V6 engine. In the US, 181,000 vehicles are affected, with an additional 18,400 in Canada and 21,700 additional units worldwide. A Chrysler spokesperson said that no crashes or injuries have been reported with either case, according to the Associated Press.