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UPS employees band together to buy car for teen coworker

A young Alabama man got the surprise of a lifetime this week when his co-workers presented him with his very own car for his daily commute. According to the Daily Mail, 19-year-old Derrick Taylor started working at the Oxford, Alabama, UPS freight center a year and a half ago to support his ailing mother. With precious little money left over after bills and healthcare, Taylor had no money to afford a vehicle so he walked the five miles to and from work every day. Despite numerous offers of rides and loans, the young man was too proud to accept even the slightest help from his co-workers. Desperate to do something for him, Taylor's co-workers raised money in secret and bought him a used Jeep Cherokee off a local lot. 'This is a hard working young man. He makes me emotional. This young man wants to work so bad, he walks to work from way out of town," said James Williams, Taylor's safety instructor. "The group here, we've got some good news for you. Everybody came together and you don't have to walk no more. You've got your own ride. We want you to know we appreciate your hard work." Deeply moved, Taylor stood for a moment and wiped tears away before he walked over to check out the Jeep. "I was overwhelmed with joy. No one had ever done anything like that for me so it made me cry and I'm not really the type to show my emotions," he told the Daily Mail. Related Video: News Source: The Daily Mail Auto News Jeep SUV gift

Jeep Grand Wagoneer could top out at $130,000

Jeep's image presents a blue-collar, American brand that builds SUVs for Average Joe drivers, nevermind the thousands of $40,000 Wrangler Unlimited that sell every year. But a revived Grand Wagoneer could push Jeep prices into a whole new realm. Eventually. Speaking to AutoExpress, Jeep boss Mike Manley confirmed "the Grand Wagoneer concept is moving forward," and that its price could reach levels previously unheard of from the brand. "I don't think there's a maximum price ceiling per se for Jeep. If you look at the upper end of the segment in the US, for me, the Grand Wagoneer done well can compete all the way through this segment," Manley told AE. "I'll use US dollars, but pushing the car up to $130,000 to $140,000 may be possible, but we need to establish Grand Wagoneer in its own right first. That's why I wouldn't say there's price ceiling." That's about twice as much as Jeep's current most-expensive model, the $66,690 Grand Cherokee SRT. Hell, it's more than a Dodge Viper ACR, and is roughly on par with a base Maserati GranTurismo. But while getting wrapped up in the idea of a six-figure Jeep is easy, Manley's argument that his brand needs to establish the new model first is more important. It absolutely does not sound like Jeep will introduce the reborn Grand Wagoneer with a trim near $130,000. Instead, we bet the new flagship model will kick off between $50,000 and $60,000, right near the top of where the brand currently plays. That lets Jeep undercut entry level versions of the BMW X5, Mercedes-Benz GLS, and GMC Yukon Denali without giving brand loyalists sticker shock. After establishing the Grand Wagoneer, to use Manley's parlance, Jeep can afford to push higher and challenge the base level Range Rover, which starts around $85,000. Only after that can we expect Manley's hypothesizing to come true. So yeah, while a $130,000 Jeep sounds like a possibility, we wouldn't expect it for at least a few model years after the Grand Wagoneer's big debut. Related Video:

Sunday Drive: Trucks and SUVs of all shapes and sizes

The American automotive marketplace is dominated by trucks and SUVs, and so was the last week of coverage on Autoblog. By far, the most popular story of the week was our First Drive of the 2018 Lincoln Navigator. It may look like an old-school lumberer, but in reality Lincoln's flagship is a thoroughly modern, turbocharged-V6-powered, three-row, luxury people mover. The Jeep Wrangler is the world's most recognizable vehicle. So it's no surprise that the next version looks a whole heck of a lot like the last one, and the one before. It's all in the details, which is why we were so excited when Jeep decided to unleash a trio of images showing both two- and four-door Wranglers for us to dissect ahead of the SUV's official debut at the L.A. Auto Show later this year. Past that, spy photos of the next Chevy Silverado and Ram 1500 were predictably popular. See both of those below, and the cap it all off, check out the entire week's worth of SEMA coverage – including the bonkers Hennessey VelociRaptor 6x6 – in our mega image gallery at the bottom of this post. Enjoy! As always, tune in to Autoblog next week for a front-row seat to all the happenings worth following in the automotive industry. 2018 Lincoln Navigator First Drive | From black sheep to flagship 2018 Jeep Wrangler revealed: First photos released before L.A. Auto Show debut 2019 Chevy Silverado looks slim and clean beneath the camo 2019 Ram 1500 gets vertical touchscreen infotainment system 2017 SEMA Show Mega Photo Gallery Chevrolet Jeep Lincoln RAM Truck SUV recap sunday drive