2016 Jeep Wrangler Sahara Unlimited on 2040-cars

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Marchionne says no offers are on the table for Fiat Chrysler

MONZA, Italy (Reuters) - Fiat Chrysler (FCA) has not received any offer for the company nor is the world's seventh-largest carmaker working on any "big deal", Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne said on Saturday. Speaking on the sidelines of the Italian Formula One Grand Prix, Marchionne said the focus remained on executing the company's business plan to 2018. Asked whether FCA had been approached by someone or whether there was an offer on the table, he simply said: "No." The company's share price jumped to record highs last month after reports of interest for the group or some of its brands from China. China's Great Wall Motor Co Ltd openly said it was interested in FCA, but had not held talks or signed a deal with executives at the Italian-American automaker. The stock move was also helped by expectations that the company might separate from some of its units. Marchionne reiterated on Saturday that FCA was working on a plan to "purify" its portfolio and that units, such as the components businesses, would be separated from the group. He hopes to complete that process by the end of 2018. "There are activities within the group that do not belong to a car manufacturer, for example the components businesses. The group needs to be cleared of those things," he told journalists. Asked whether an announcement could come this year, Marchionne said it was up to the board to decide and that it would next meet at the end of September. He said the time was not right for a spin-off of luxury brand Maserati and premium Alfa Romeo and the two brands needed to become self-sustainable entities first and "have the muscle to stand on their feet, make sufficient cash". "The way we see it now, it's almost impossible, if not impossible, to see a spin-off of Alfa Romeo/Maserati, these are two entities that are immature and in a development phase," he said. "It's the wrong moment, we are not in a condition to do it." He said the concept of separating the two brands from FCA's mass market business made sense and did not rule out this happening in future, but not under his tenure, which lasts until April 2019. "If there is an opportunity in future, it would certainly happen after I'm gone. It won't happen while Marchionne is around," he said.

Jeep gunning to build 250,000 Cherokees a year

Contrary to what a certain politician may have said last year about Jeep moving to China, the automaker is in fact doing the opposite, with plans to greatly increase the production capacity at its Toledo North Assembly plant in Ohio. The Detroit Free Press is reporting that there are big plans for the 2014 Jeep Cherokee and Toledo North, as a local union president has informed the newspaper that Chrysler is planning to produce around 250,000 examples of the new midsize utility per year.
To put this number into context, 250,000 units is more than what Jeep Liberty sales totaled here over the last three years combined. Even taking into consideration that the 250,000 units will be distributed beyond US borders, that's an ambitious volume figure full-stop - and that's without taking into consideration the new Cherokee's love/hate design. In its favor, though, Jeep is making remarkable inroads globally as of late, and the Cherokee's size could work well in emerging markets. To get that kind of output from Toledo's Cherokee assembly line, Chrysler will reportedly hire 1,105 new workers - that's in addition to the 200 workers already being hired to build the popular Jeep Wrangler, which is itself expected to top 220,000 units this year.

NHTSA investigating 630k Jeep Wranglers for possible airbag fault

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is opening a preliminary evaluation into a possible wiring problem on some 2007-2012 Jeep Wrangler models that could affect airbag deployment. The government agency has 221 complaints alleging that the airbag warning light is illuminating, and that could indicate that the safety devices might not deploy in a crash. If a recall is necessary, an estimated 630,000 vehicles could be affected. According to the documents from NHTSA (as a PDF here), a "faulty clockspring assembly in the driver side airbag electrical circuit" could be the culprit. Also, some of the affected Wranglers are showing a fault code that indicates the safety device wouldn't deploy in an accident. However at this time, there are no reports of injuries related to this potential problem. NHTSA's preliminary evaluations are simply meant to investigate and don't necessarily lead to a recall. This isn't the first time for a potential problem like this on the Wrangler, though. A clockspring issue already led to a safety campaign for 2008-2012 right-hand drive Wranglers and an extended warranty for 2007 left-hand drive examples. Related Video: INVESTIGATION Subject : Air Bag Clockspring Wiring Failure Date Investigation Opened: JUN 19, 2015 Date Investigation Closed: Open NHTSA Action Number: PE15025 Component(s): AIR BAGS All Products Associated with this Investigation Vehicle Make Model Model Year(s) JEEP WRANGLER 2007-2012 JEEP WRANGLER 2-DR 4X4 2007-2009 JEEP WRANGLER 4-DR 4X2 2007-2009 JEEP WRANGLER 4-DR 4X4 2007-2009 JEEP WRANGLER SAHARA 2007 Details Manufacturer: Chrysler (FCA US LLC) SUMMARY: The subject vehicles display an airbag warning light that may indicate a failure of the clockspring wiring in the driver side air bag circuit. Several complaints cite the following diagnostic trouble code (DTC): Code B1B02 Open Squib to driver's air bag. This DTC would indicate a no-fire condition (disablement) for the driver air bag. ODI investigated the RHD (right hand drive) Wrangler for a clockspring issue under PE11-019 which led to NHTSA Recall 11V258 on model year (MY) 2008-2012 RHD Wranglers as well as an extended warranty campaign on MY 2007 LHD Wrangler vehicles. This investigation covers the MY07-12 LHD (left hand drive) Wranglers.