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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.
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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.
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