Jeep has recently introduced the Wrangler Unlimited Nautic Edition on the European market, allowing customers to choose between two opposed identities: Nautic White and Nautic Black.
The first uses a chromed front grille, while the interior is finished in white leather and comes with wooden trimming that resembles the ones used for luxury boats, so that the driver and his passengers get a special feeling while inside the car.
Following the debut of the all-new 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee, it didn’t take long before the questions and the rumors started flying: Will Jeep bring back the Cherokee SRT8? Chrysler’s Street and Race Technology team remained quiet through all the speculation and waited until the 2011 New York auto show to deliver its answer in the form of its latest uber-Jeep, the 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8.
When we tested the first-gen Cherokee SRT8 around California’s Willow Springs Raceway back in 2006, we quickly discovered that its 6.1-liter V8 Hemi — rated at 420 horsepower and 420 pound-feet of torque – helped make it one of the fastest and most agile sport/utilities we had ever tested, outperforming the Porsche Cayenne Turbo in the skidpad, slalom, and 0-t- 60-mph time (4.8 to 5.1 seconds, respectively).
The tuners over at Project Kahn have released photos and details on their latest offering based on the Jeep Wrangler. The restrained tuning programme is limited to a cosmetic touch up of the popular 4×4 model. On the outside, Project Kahn’s team added a set of new 20-inch RS alloy wheels wrapped around beefy 275/55 tires. Upon request, the Wrangler can be finished in either black or silver with matching alloy wheels.
Let’s be honest here: The 2011 Jeep Compass should have never been built – at least not in the form it took. A derivative of the compact Dodge Caliber, the Compass is neither a real Jeep nor an SUV, but a singular testament to how badly Daimler mismanaged the brand over its decade of ownership. And sales have proven this out. Although the Compass did well in the first year after its May 2006 launch, interest quickly cooled, and through the end of 2010, Chrysler had totaled only 111,000 Compass sales. The company managed to move fewer than 16,000 of them last year.
A “softroader,” the Compass was meant to compete in the growing field of compact, front-wheel-drive crossovers often derided as “Cute Utes.” The misguided, condescending and paternalistic attitude of the Germans running DaimlerChrysler at the time was that young women would flock to the Compass, while its mechanical twin, the Jeep Patriot, was designed for the boys. While the Patriot at least looked like a Jeep – the much-loved, discontinued Cherokee – the googly-eyed Compass was cartoonish, like a Jeep animated for the Powerpuff Girls.
When an automaker’s resources are limited, logic suggests they be diverted to the product that will deliver the greatest return. So it’s not surprising that the all-new Grand Cherokee has gotten the lion’s share of Jeep’s attention, and its vastly improved sales results speak for themselves. For those models farther down the ladder, such as the 2011 Jeep Liberty, the changes are far less dramatic.
Updated significantly for the 2008 model year, the 2011 Liberty is but a mild mid-cycle refresh, despite the need for more drastic action. In fact, Jeep only lists four changes, one of which is a selection of new paint colors.
