1973 Jeep/jeepster Commando 4x4 304/ 400turbo Auto Trans/dana Frt/r Runs Great!! on 2040-cars

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Coronavirus shakes up America's truck market: GM outselling Ford and Ram

FCA, Ford and General Motors joined the rest of the U.S. auto industry in taking heavy volume hits due to coronavirus-related shortages of both cars and customers. The saying goes that a rising tide lifts all boats; it stands to reason, then, that a falling one would have the opposite effect.  However, as we learned Thursday, the automotive market can behave in unpredictable ways. While the F-Series remained the best-selling nameplate in Q1, GM's full-size trucks are now outselling Ford's again for the first time in years, and with this upward thrust from the General, FCA's Ram was unceremoniously booted out of a hard-earned second place.  While late-March sales declines hit just about every major automaker in one way or another, the model-by-model results weren't nearly so uniform. And because the market tends to be a zero-sum game, for every winner, there generally has to be a loser.  In this case, that winner was GM, and its rise had to come at the expense of another automaker, in this case, Ford. F-Series sales dropped 13.1 percent in the first quarter of 2020, while sales of GM's full-sized Silverado and Sierra surged nearly 28% in the same period. FCA's Ram lineup managed a steady-as-she-goes 7% increase. All-in, GM finished the quarter with 197,743 full-size trucks sold to Ford's 186,562. Here's the full breakdown: Ford F-Series: 186,562  Chevrolet Silverado*: 144,734 Ram P/U: 128,805 GMC Sierra: 53,009 *includes 1,036 Medium Duty sales Things are a but murkier in the midsize segment, where the Chevy Colorado slipped 36% to just 21,430 units sold — just a few hundred better than the slow-selling Ford Ranger's Q1 numbers. The GMC Canyon experienced an almost identical slide, finishing the quarter with just 4,483 units sold. For perspective, Jeep sold more than 15,000 Gladiators and Toyota's midsize Tacoma slipped less than 8%, finishing the quarter with nearly 54,000 sales.  We suspect this discrepancy in full- and mid-size truck sales comes from shifting incentives. Ford, GM and FCA would like to keep selling bigger trucks because there's far more profit margin built into their list prices. Even with tens of thousands of dollars in manufacturer money on the hood, big trucks still make money.  Since these automakers report quarterly, we won't get another good look at these numbers until July, but if you thought that 2019 represented the new normal for U.S. auto sales, well, think again.

CES 2021, Jeep Grand Cherokee L, and driving the Ford Mustang Mach-E and F-150 PHEV | Autoblog Podcast #660

In this week's Autoblog Podcast, Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore is joined by West Coast Editor James Riswick. They talk about driving Ford's Mustang Mach-E and F-150 plug-in hybrid, as well as the Ram TRX and Genesis GV80. They recap CES 2021, as well as the enormous display screens featured in new cars at the show. They also discuss the reveal of the new three-row Jeep Grand Cherokee L. Lastly, they reach into the mailbag to talk about vehicle comfort. Autoblog Podcast #660 Get The Podcast iTunes – Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes RSS – Add the Autoblog Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator MP3 – Download the MP3 directly Rundown What we're driving2021 Ford Mustang Mach-E Premium AWD 2021 Ford F-150 Platinum PHEV 2021 Ram 1500 TRX 2021 Genesis GV80 Other news CES 2021 2021 Jeep Grand Cherokee L Mailbag Feedback Email – Podcast@Autoblog.com Review the show on iTunes Related Video:

Jeep Cherokee finally dealer-bound

We had our First Drive of the 2014 Jeep Cherokee last month, but it appears that prospective buyers won't have too much longer to finally get time behind the wheel of the new small Jeep.
Automotive News is reporting that after a two-month delay, Jeep dealers will finally start receiving their first shipments of the new Cherokee, in the next 10 days. A Chrysler spokesperson confirmed to Autoblog that the Cherokee is indeed on its way to Jeep dealers.
According to AN, about 23,000 Cherokees have been built since production commenced back in June, but potential powertrain issues forced Jeep to make adjustments to the Cherokee along the way. Automotive News says that in order to make sure there are no issues with the Cherokee before it reaches customers, it is testing each vehicle after it rolls off the assembly line at a rented test track near the vehicle's Toledo North Assembly Plant.