2003 Jeep Wrangler X Sport Utility 2-door 4.0l on 2040-cars

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Marchionne defends FCA recalls, says Wrangler won't be all-aluminum

FCA CEO Sergio Marchionne recently received the 2015 Industry Leadership Award from the SAE Foundation. While speaking with the press after the event, the boss discussed his thoughts about some key issues regarding the company's future. One of the big regulatory issues facing FCA at the moment is the upcoming public hearing by the National Highway Traffic Safety into the automaker's handling of 20 recalls. Marchionne has no intention of testifying there, according to The Detroit News. The CEO also thinks that the government regulator is becoming much more aggressive in how it handles safety campaigns, but the Feds aren't necessarily doing a very good job of communicating that. "We need to work with the agency in a very cooperative and open way to make sure that we can meet their requirements for their new stance," he said, according to the newspaper. "We have no option but to comply with their requirements and we will. I have nothing to hide in this process. I just want clear rules." Marchionne also dropped the news that the company has changed its mind about making the next Jeep Wrangler totally from aluminum. "Because of the difference in cost, not just the new material but the actual assembly process, I think we can do almost as well without doing it all-aluminum," he said to The Detroit News. This seemingly opens the door for the model to remain in production in Toledo, OH, but only just a crack. Marchionne says that the new Wrangler would still use a large amount of aluminum, and there are "at least" two sites in contention for the assembly. The company doesn't have too long to make a decision because the model reportedly launches in 2017.

Canadians build Jeep Wrangler out of cans for charity

The Jeep Wrangler can do a lot of things. It can traverse most any terrain, take you to work, the kids to school, get you and your friends to the surf on time, and so on. Turns out it can also feed the hungry – or at least this one can. And by can, we mean actual cans of food. To celebrate Canada Day (which was Wednesday), Jeep recreated a Wrangler out of more than 4,500 cans of food. The project was undertaken together with Canstruction Inc, a charity that works to fight hunger and poverty, serve the community, and promote science, technology, engineering, and math. The full-scale replica took a team of teenagers a good 12 hours to build. It's being displayed at Vancouver's waterfront Canada Place during the festivities, after which it will be dismantled to provide 3,120 meals for the hungry through the Greater Vancouver Food Bank Society. This is the second such project we've seen FCA Canada undertake together with Canstruction. Last time it was a Dodge Grand Caravan created to celebrate the minivan's 30th anniversary. It was built out of 30,000 cans and displayed in downtown Toronto before being distributed as 2,000 food baskets through the Daily Bread Food Bank. Next time maybe we'll see a Viper or Challenger made out of cans on display in Montreal during the Canadian Grand Prix weekend and donated to the Old Brewery Mission, which this writer knows first-hand does good work to feed Montrealers in need. Related Video: JEEP® AND THE FCA FOUNDATION CELEBRATE CANADA DAY WITH LIFE-SIZE 'CANSTRUCTION®' OF JEEP® WRANGLER FOR CHARITY - Full-scale Jeep® Wrangler built from over 4,500 cans of food will provide more than 3,120 meals to Greater Vancouver Food Bank Society - Vehicle built by local students 12-18 years of age - Jeep and the FCA Foundation again partnered with Canstruction® Inc. for the build, an international non-profit organization that aims to raise awareness for hunger and poverty, along with Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) principals, plus community service - Public can stop by Canada Place on Canada Day to take a #JeepCANselfie in the vehicle - In 2014, FCA Canada was the top-selling automaker in B.C., a title it's retained thus far in 2015 - Jeep Wrangler is B.C.'s best-selling small SUV by more than double its closest competitor July 1, 2015 , Vancouver, B.C.

SEMA crowns Mustang, FR-S as this year's hottest cars in the building

After wrapping up the first day of the 2012 SEMA Show, organizers handed out awards for some of the trendiest vehicles on display. Since the whole point of SEMA is to show off new products available in the aftermarket world for use in cars, trucks and SUVs, each year, the show distinguishes the most popular vehicle in various segments. Not surprisingly, this year's Hottest Car and Hottest Sport Compact are the Ford Mustang and Scion FR-S, respectively, while the Ford F-Series brought home the Hottest Truck and the Jeep Wrangler was named the Hottest 4x4-SUV.
More than 2,000 companies are at this year's show, and the display booths represents a "vote" for each car to determing the trendiest vehicles in each of the four categories. It isn't clear if these awards also take cars brought by OEMs into account, but the Mustang and FR-S were definitely well represented by both OEM and aftermarket show versions.
As usual, the OEMs showed up in force at the this year's SEMA Show exhibiting a variety of cars ranging from production-intent cars like the beastly Ford Mustang Cobra Jet to much flashier rides like Scion's Carbon Stealth FR-S.