Jeep CEO Rules Out Italian-Built Small SUV Being a Rebadged Fiat, Still Undecided on Names

Platform sharing is a very common, and very cost-effective, practice these days. Company executives, however, fret when someone names their vehicle a “rebadge”, “re-skin” or something akin to that no matter how many parts it may actually share with a sister brand’s model.

Jeep President and CEO Mike Manley is one of those execs, despite the fact that the Fiat-Chrysler tie-up is mostly about sharing platforms, parts and expertise and minimizing costs and they practice it even at the group's luxury cars.

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Smugglers from Mexico Learn that the Jeep Cherokee is Trail Rated, not Border Fence Rated...

What will they think of next? A group of suspected smugglers attempted to cross the U.S. border on Tuesday using an older Jeep Cherokee and two makeshift ramps on either side of the 14-foot fence at California’s Imperial Sand Dunes.

Their "Trail Rated" plan, however, hit a snag, when the Jeep became stuck on the metal barrier. Border Patrol spokesman Spencer Tippets told KMOV News that the Cherokee was spotted tangling over the fence just after midnight.

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Sergio Marchionne and Obama's Campaign Rebuke Romney's Jeep to China Accusations

The battle for the 2012 U.S. elections has spilled over the automobile industry after Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney told an Ohio crowd last week that Jeep is planning to move all of its production to China, while also airing an ad that says Obama "sold Chrysler to Italians who are going to build Jeeps in China. Mitt Romney will fight for every American job."

The problem is that the Chrysler Group is not considering to relocate production from the U.S. to China, but instead is weighing its options to open new plants in China to meet increasing demand in the country.

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