Jeep News: Rumorpile: Changes At Jeep Factory Could Open Doors For Wrangler Diesel and Truck

[William Maley]

The past eleven months at Fiat Chrysler Automobiles' Toledo plant - home of Cherokee and Wrangler production - has been tense. Rumors and talk about moving Wrangler production out the factory have been floating around for that time. But Automotive News has learned that the Wrangler will be staying at Toledo; while the Cherokee moves to another plant. An official announcement will be made once FCA finishes up contract talks with the UAW.

 

But this announcement also gives Jeep an interesting situation. For the past few years, we have been reporting on rumors and chatter from executives on building a diesel version of the Wrangler and possibly a pickup truck. The problem was Jeep currently sells every Wrangler that comes out of the plant, meaning those models had to sit on the sidelines. But with the Cherokee moving to another plant, this allows for more capacity and the chance for these models to go into production.

 

The publication reports that Jeep will be going forward with Wrangler pickup that will be built at Toledo within the next few years. No information was provided on a timeline for a diesel Wrangler.

 

Source: Automotive News (Subscription Required), 2

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[David]

Diesel in both the wrangler and a pickup truck would be awesome. I hope they bring back the Eliminator model. For those that had a chance to drive a Jeep Comanche Eliminator model with the straight 6 engine, that truck rocked.

[smk4565]

I think a Wrangler pick up is a great idea.  As I said in another threat, Wrangler has a following and is a popular model, and you can't change the styling, so you might as well do a new body style.  And people like pickups, even ancient pick ups like the Tacoma and Frontier sell in fairly good numbers, I think a Wranger pickup could sell pretty well, especially if they get some updated engines and transmissions, like the pentastar 2.7 liter (or 3.6)  and the 8-speed transmission.  I think the Wrangler still has a 5-speed auto from Daimler days.