Toledo gets proactive in fight to keep Jeep Wrangler

Wed, 08 Oct 2014

Let's make this very plain – the city of Toledo, OH loves its Jeeps. It loves them so fervently that the very rumor of the Jeep Wrangler moving out of its traditional home prompted the city's mayor, D. Michael Collins, and Ohio Gov. John Kasich to hold a weekend conference call with Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne.

"The purpose of this call was for the mayor and governor to gain clarity on Mr. Marchionne's comments last week regarding the possibility of the next generation of Jeep Wrangler being built at a location other than the Toledo North Assembly Plant," a spokesman for the mayor's office told The Toledo Blade.

While no further commitments were made by any party, Collins and Kasich's statement was quite unequivocal about keeping Toledo's unwillingness to let the Wrangler go, saying "the city and its partners will again rise to the occasion to ensure that the new Wrangler is made in Toledo." According to the newspaper, the next step is for face-to-face meetings between officials from Ohio and FCA.

This entire hoopla started when Marchionne commented on the Wrangler's future during last week's Paris Motor Show. The Fiat Chrysler Automobiles boss hinted that, in addition to moving to turbocharged powertrains, fitting the next-generation Wrangler could go to an aluminum body, which would likely necessitate a move out of Jeep's traditional home city.

By Brandon Turkus