Mexican Media Brands
FCA Rules Out All-Aluminum Body for Jeep Wrangler
CEO Sergio Marchionne confirms Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV has decided against giving its next-generation 2017 model Jeep Wrangler SUV an aluminum unitized body.
#aluminum
Share
CEO Sergio Marchionne confirms Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV has decided against giving its next-generation 2017 model Jeep Wrangler SUV an aluminum unitized body.
Marchionne tells reporters the iconic Jeep will be able to achieve about the same desired fuel economy improvement by retaining a steel frame and adding an aluminum hood, doors and tailgate.
Switching to a unitized aluminum architecture would require an extensive overhaul of the Wrangler assembly plant in Toledo, Ohio. Marchionne floated the idea last autumn of such a project but declared it would be "outrageously" expensive to execute.
Reports last October indicated FCA might abandon an all-aluminum design. Marchionne confirms that bolting aluminum panels to a steel Wrangler body would be considerably easier to accomplish and result in significantly lower materials and manufacturing costs.
RELATED CONTENT
-
Aluminum Engine Block Casting Improved
.
-
Range Rover Sport SVR Sets Low(ish) Speed Record
This is an interesting record: a Range Rover Sport SVR, which can accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in 4.3 seconds and has a top speed of 174 mph, was recently driven by Ho-Pin Tung, a Chinese-Dutch driver for the Panasonic Jaguar Racing team, on a road in the Hunan Province in China, and set a new record of an average speed of 42.8 mph.
-
Jaguar Land Rover & the Globalization of Auto
If you want a sense of the nature of the global nature of this business, consider last week’s announcement from Jaguar Land Rover.