So last week, Chrysler’s CEO Sergio Marchionne announced a $500 million investment in retooling the Toledo Assembly complex’s Liberty production line, a neighboring plant that runs 20 hours a day, 6 days a week.
However, Chrysler can barely keep the Wranglers in stock as worldwide demand increases beyond the capacity of the Toledo Plant. Capacity concerns could result in another upgrade to this facility or to build them in another Chrysler facility elsewhere.
United Auto Workers union agreed to work 4 days next month during their usual shutdown week between Christmas and New Years day, the first time in 28 years.
To get an idea of the demand, October’s production of Wranglers was 135,072 units, 11% from last year. In July, 14,335 units were sold, 28% more than last year. Elsewhere in the world, Chrysler have sold 36,164 Wranglers through October, up 15% from last year.
New for 2012, Jeep has released new “Arctic Editions” of the Wrangler and Liberty. Although most features of the Jeeps remain the same, there are a number of cosmetic options that are unique to the Arctic.
The Arctic Edition is only available in wintery colors, Winter Chill, Bright Silver, and Bright White (Mineral Gray available on Liberty), including color-matched hard top and flares. Exterior details include a black hood decal, Mopar black fuel filler door, tail lamp guards, and “Yeti footprint” decals and Yeti emblems. Also available is the Rubicon wheel and tire package; 32” tires and semi-gloss black 17” rims.
Interior features include the heated front seats trimmed in black Tectonic fabric and Polar White accents with orange accent stitching and “Arctic” logos.
Here’s what they have to say about this new product:
Designed to be a whole new look while being extremely light weight. Save on fuel and helps the environment. The Bumper is all Aluminum but uses the current steel XHD D-rings. Each bumper comes with a built in top filler plate. Each new XHD has cutouts and mounting points for the factory fog lights and a great looking “Jeep® Style” front slat look that will make this bumper stand out. If you want to run a winch, simply remove the filler plate and attach the optional JK Winch mounting plate (Steel Plate).The XHD Aluminum bumper is approximately 80lbs+ lighter than the average steel off road bumper. Government studies show a fuel economy benefit of 2% for every 100lbs of weight savings.
Available Components:
• Aluminum Center Section with Steel D-Rings
• Stubby Bumper Ends – Aluminum
• JK Winch Plate – Special design for this bumper & fits all standard bottom mount winches
• Special Aluminum Over-rider with forward slope
*Standard Configuration: Bumper Base, Filler Plate & D-Rings. The optional Hoop Over-rider, Stubby Ends & Winch Plate make the maximum overall weight of the bumper 62.6 lbs.
Mopar recently released their JK-8 Independence pickup kit for 07-11 Jeep Wranglers, we wanted to pass on some of the details (courtesy of the Chrysler Blog).
The kit will retail for $5,499 and comes with a three-year/36,000-mile warranty. It is available for ordering through Mopar at Chrysler dealerships as a single part number (77070049) with all hardware and body panels included. The JK-8 pickup kit includes:
44-inch by 50-inch steel bed
inner and outer bedsides constructed from stamped sheet metal
sport bar extensions, Freedom Panel assemblies
a removable fiberglass hardtop with a sliding rear window
two fixed side windows
fiberglass bulkhead
According to the following video, installation isn’t overly complicated:
We can’t wait to see some of these kits out on the trails, let u know if you’re thinking about picking one up!
Hi everyone! My name is Cody and I’m another new face here at Drive Offroad (I’ll be helping out with graphics, photography, videos and whatever else is needed). Much like Tracy, I’ve been involved in the automotive world for quite some time (been racing in various motorsports since 2001), but the offroad market is a bit new to me as well. My main automotive background has been with drifting (also drifted professionally a few years back), but I’m quickly becoming obsessed with the offroad culture and can’t wait to get a vehicle of my own to join in the fun. I’ve done a ton of research on Jeeps and have some rough mental plans, but tend to be a little indecisive and would welcome any input from our readers.
My question for the more knowledgeable Jeepers out there is this: Would you wait it out for the 2012 JK models to come out later this year (more power and possibly better fuel efficiency with the Pentastar V6), get a current 2007-2011 JK (really digging the looks and the 4 door would be super practical), or just get a cheaper TJ or YJ to get going into the sport? I feel like the new power plant in the 2012 JK’s will be a great setup, but I’d like to stay on as much of a budget as possible and don’t really love the idea of getting into making payments on a new vehicle (which I’ll quickly proceed to customize and most likely tear up in the woods). The current JK’s seem great as well, but unless I could find a nice deal on a used one I feel like waiting until the 2012′s come out might be worthwhile since big changes are right around the corner. I also wouldn’t be too opposed to finding a nice used TJ/YJ to start playing around with, although it might be a little harder to stuff myself/friends/gear into a 2-door.
If any of you guys have any helpful thoughts, feel free to let me know! I’m sure I’ll be happy with whatever route I end up taking, and overall I just really want to get out there and start having fun!
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