2022 Jeep Wagoneer 4x4 3 Row Grand Series I -edition(new Was $92,035) on 2040-cars

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FCA delays Grand Wagoneer and next-generation heavy-duty Ram trucks

The upcoming Jeep Grand Wagoneer has had a tumultuous gestation thus far. At one point it was essentially confirmed, but later it was rumored to have been cancelled. In that context, the latest report from Automotive News is something of a mixed blessing. According to the publication, the Grand Wagoneer has simply been delayed, as has the next-generation Ram heavy duty truck line. This does not seem to affect the fully redesigned Ram 1500, which was previously reported to have been pushed back slightly to 2019. Automotive News says the information came from unnamed sources at the company. Nothing was said about how long the vehicles would be delayed. The publication also conjectures that FCA is delaying the models to save some money to help cover the company's $7 billion of debt , since re-tooling both the heavy-duty truck plant and eventual Grand Wagoneer plant will be expensive. View 6 Photos We reached out to Chrysler for more information on the subject, but the company wouldn't comment on the report. Even so, we wouldn't be too surprised if FCA is indeed delaying these products. The company has delayed a number of vehicles in recent years. In fact nearly every major FCA truck and SUV, including the Grand Wagoneer and Ram line, were delayed about a year and a half ago. We certainly hope the company doesn't delay the Grand Wagoneer for too long, since it's possible it will have a price tag of over $130,000. The profit margins on an SUV with that kind of MSRP would go a long way to helping to pay down the company's debt. Related Video:

Crawling Moab in the 2015 Jeep Renegade Trailhawk [w/video]

The funny thing about the Renegade Trailhawk is that Jeep still feels the need to defend it. For the past 20 years, automakers have sent emissary vehicles outside the citadel walls surrounding their brand niche. In doing so, these companies found buyers eager to join the cult instead of an angry horde. With the kingdom successfully expanded, automakers had to build new walls to contain this broader identity. This is the story of Jeep's modern expansion, growing with new models while the faithful at the brand's center howl at every quest into broader market segments. Thirteen years after it busted out the Liberty and eight years after birthing the Compass and Patriot, you'd think the resistance to new Jeeps would subside. But no. It's 2015, and while nobody makes the slightest tantrum over BMW's new minivan (except for Sniff Petrol), the Renegade still has to fight its way through pitchforks and torches. Which is a long way of saying that this author is guilty of brand prejudice, too. When the company told us that we'd spend the first day of the Easter Jeep Safari driving seven awesome concepts and the second day driving the Renegade Trailhawk on Dome Point Trail, we could only think, "They giveth excitement, and they taketh it away." Our pessimism was later proven to be incorrect. Sharing the sentiment our colleague Brandon Turkus expressed after his Quick Spin, we found the Renegade to be "in a word, impressive." Dome Point will not trouble a kitted-out Wrangler, but in a compact SUV with on-road tires the rocky sections were chunky enough to require close attention to your lines or use a spotter. As instructed, we put the little 4x4 into the Selec-Terrain's Rock mode, and with common sense plus one eye on the man directing us with hand signals the Renegade climbed over everything with some wheelspin but little fuss. At the first rest point, we turned the car off to wait for vehicles behind. Not realizing that this resets the drive mode to Auto, we crawled through the next two rocky jumbles in the default setting. The result was the same: a bit of wheelspin climbing over thick steps, but an altogether drama-free passage. Auto mode can't use the engine throttle maps unique to each Selec-Terrain setting, but it doesn't hamper the Renegade's capability by much. On a steep bit of trail with a crest capped by stacked stone plinths, it took three tries to find the right line, but that's on us – the Renegade did more than expected.

What's really going on with the 2014 Jeep Cherokee's transmission issues?

On September 23, Automotive News reported that Chrysler had idled the second shift workers it hired just five weeks prior at its Toledo Assembly Complex to build the 2014 Jeep Cherokee. At the time, Chrysler said it had "built the critical number of vehicles we need to stock dealerships once containment is released" and did not want "to put additional strain on our logistics partners ... upon release." That reasoning was not only unusual, it didn't seem to make sense.
It appears the center of the nine-speed issue is software, not hardware.
That same day, the Detroit News ran a piece claiming workers at the Toledo factory said the halt was due to issues with the Cherokee's transmission. It put the number of already-built Cherokees needing fixes at 1,000 and said that some of the workers not laid off had been instructed "to take the Jeep on long test-drives." That made more sense. Three days later, on September 26, Automotive News reported that the 500 workers laid off had been reinstated, with engineers "speeding repairs on the SUV's powertrain software." The AN piece didn't put a number on how many units are being fixed, but it did say that 12,000 have been built and are awaiting delivery to dealers. The best it could say about when dealers will get them, however, is that "progress on a fix is being made. It's unclear when shipments to dealers will start."