Jeep Wrangler likely to get aluminum body, will stay in Toledo

Mon, 27 Oct 2014

Perhaps more than any other vehicle currently for sale in the United States, the Jeep Wrangler is viewed by purist fans as a vehicle that simply must maintain the status quo. In this case, that means a body-on-frame design, solid axles, a relatively large engine sitting up front and a removable top. It's always been that way, and it always will be.

Maybe.

According to the most recent reports, the next-generation Jeep will continue to soldier forth with a full steel chassis underneath its stamped bodywork. The biggest change, reports Automotive News, will be that said panels will be hewn from aluminum instead of steel, a seismic shift of a transition not unlike what's happened with the new Ford F-150. Because it won't be a unibody, the SUV will likely continue to be assembled in Toledo, OH as it (almost) always has been – the latter has been a source of heartburn in recent weeks for the Northwestern city in the Buckeye State.

Assuming that these rumors prove accurate, they still don't answer all of the questions brand loyalists have put forth since rumors of the next-gen Wrangler started hitting the web. Will it keep solid axles? A six-cylinder engine? A manual transmission option? Only time will tell.

By Jeremy Korzeniewski