Chrysler to invest more $$$ into Toledo

tommudd · **Posted:** Mon Jan 21, 2008 6:53 pm

Tom Lasorda announced today that they will invest $26 millon into the Toledo maching facility, which will be used for building new torque convertors for better gas mileage and also for building new steering columns.

But since the new Liberty (KK) and Nitro are not selling like the original KJs did the third shift is being eliminated.

Wrangler production meanwhile is on maximum over time, with over 38000 of the last 157000 being exported out of the U.S. which is good for Keep and Chrysler!

Tom

RkyMtnKJ · **Posted:** Mon Jan 21, 2008 8:33 pm

wow, interesting how many are being exported...kinda surprised they're not investing more $$$ into the Wrangler plant then, but then you think about how they want to produce more than just 3 models so the future of Jeep will be an interesting one...

elephantrider · **Posted:** Mon Jan 21, 2008 8:42 pm

did the kj sell great on initial release or did it take some time ?
i bought an 03 renegade, but didnt see many on the road then.
when we bought the 05 sport, they were everywhere.

it may take some time to get the kk going in the market, maybe not though.

tommudd · **Posted:** Mon Jan 21, 2008 8:58 pm

If you could see the new plant where they build the Wrangler it is up to date on the latest / greatest test. Chrysler has stated that the Toledo assembly plant is the best they have in any of their plants, other sources have said its on par with Toyota etc as far as how it is ran and the way Wranglers, Nitros and KKs are built.

dieselenthusiast · **Posted:** Tue Jan 22, 2008 12:26 am

Great news Tom, now let’s slap a diesel in that Wrangler and call it good! Then the Jeep Sales would skyrocket in the U.S. reaching an all-time Wrangler peak for sales!

Diggerfreek · **Posted:** Tue Jan 22, 2008 1:19 am

we need on in the kk.... im not quite ready to throw in a cat motor just yet and void my life time warranty :twisted:

tommudd · **Posted:** Tue Jan 22, 2008 1:34 am

dieselenthusiast wrote:

Great news Tom, now let’s slap a diesel in that Wrangler and call it good! Then the Jeep Sales would skyrocket in the U.S. reaching an all-time Wrangler peak for sales!

There are a few around, every once in a while you see something "interesting " in traffic around town

Uffe · **Posted:** Tue Jan 22, 2008 3:31 am

I completely understand why the JK sales go so well. That vehicle is one sweet momma. Especially with a diesel engine option. Mmmmm, fuzzy warm feeling ....

Took a test drive in a wrangler and wanted any affordable jeep with the 2.8 CRD option. Then I bought the KJ which was all I could afford

This summer I will find out just how good the KJ is onroad when I'm going to visit mom in southern France (1200miles/2000kms away). Going to take my brother and our girlfriends with me. Going to just be a blast of a trip

I WANT SUMMER NOW!!

Dutchy · **Posted:** Tue Jan 22, 2008 4:25 am

jasonk wrote:

did the kj sell great on initial release or did it take some time ?
i bought an 03 renegade, but didnt see many on the road then.
when we bought the 05 sport, they were everywhere.

it may take some time to get the kk going in the market, maybe not though.

The KJ was a hit from the moment it hit the dealers, 15.000 units a month and more.

-----------------------------------------------------
"I completely understand why the JK sales go so well. That vehicle is one sweet momma. Especially with a diesel engine option. Mmmmm, fuzzy warm feeling ....

Took a test drive in a wrangler and wanted any affordable jeep with the 2.8 CRD option. Then I bought the KJ which was all I could afford

This summer I will find out just how good the KJ is onroad when I'm going to visit mom in southern France (1200miles/2000kms away). Going to take my brother and our girlfriends with me. Going to just be a blast of a trip

I WANT SUMMER NOW!! "

------------------------------------------------------

Be happy you got the KJ as they are good for long distant driving, it would be a drag to drive that far in a JK, not comfy enough and jittery.

I drive my KJ from North Scotland to Holland, Germany and Italy on a regular basis and as long as you drive not faster than 140 km/h it is a comfy ride.
Just keep an eye on the bad surfaces on the German Autobahn, the first lanes are all worn out by too many trucks and a lack of maintenance (all the money went east) and it will throw a 4x4 about, I even saw a VW Toureg loosing control and nearly rolling just by doing 150 km/h in the first lane.

Uffe · **Posted:** Tue Jan 22, 2008 6:02 am

Dutchy wrote:

Be happy you got the KJ as they are good for long distant driving, it would be a drag to drive that far in a JK, not comfy enough and jittery.

I drive my KJ from North Scotland to Holland, Germany and Italy on a regular basis and as long as you drive not faster than 140 km/h it is a comfy ride.
Just keep an eye on the bad surfaces on the German Autobahn, the first lanes are all worn out by too many trucks and a lack of maintenance (all the money went east) and it will throw a 4x4 about, I even saw a VW Toureg loosing control and nearly rolling just by doing 150 km/h in the first lane.

Yeah that IFS sure is a sweet thing for doing long distance tours. I know the JK isn't a great tourer when I did the test drive it felt a little better than my Patrol but still not as good as the KJ. Same thing when I test drove a newer Patrol with SFA and SRA.

German autobahns are worst in the eastern parts are they not? I went across them 1½ years ago when I went to Italy and back again from France. We didn't have problems with the bahns. The A-series mercedes that we rented was a good ride too. I am fearing the neck support of the KJ isn't up to snuff compared with a mercedes one. That necksupport in the mercedes saved me after doing 1100kms in a row.

Dutchy · **Posted:** Tue Jan 22, 2008 9:06 am

Uffe wrote:

Dutchy wrote:

Be happy you got the KJ as they are good for long distant driving, it would be a drag to drive that far in a JK, not comfy enough and jittery.

I drive my KJ from North Scotland to Holland, Germany and Italy on a regular basis and as long as you drive not faster than 140 km/h it is a comfy ride.
Just keep an eye on the bad surfaces on the German Autobahn, the first lanes are all worn out by too many trucks and a lack of maintenance (all the money went east) and it will throw a 4x4 about, I even saw a VW Toureg loosing control and nearly rolling just by doing 150 km/h in the first lane.

Yeah that IFS sure is a sweet thing for doing long distance tours. I know the JK isn't a great tourer when I did the test drive it felt a little better than my Patrol but still not as good as the KJ. Same thing when I test drove a newer Patrol with SFA and SRA.

German autobahns are worst in the eastern parts are they not? I went across them 1½ years ago when I went to Italy and back again from France. We didn't have problems with the bahns. The A-series mercedes that we rented was a good ride too. I am fearing the neck support of the KJ isn't up to snuff compared with a mercedes one. That necksupport in the mercedes saved me after doing 1100kms in a row.

The Autobahn in the East are better at the moment as they get all the money from the West with the result that the ones in the west are all run down, I did drive from Dusseldorf to Munich last summer and the state of the surface was awfull and sometimes dangerous. I used to drive this stretch a lot in the ninety's with My GTI and the road surface was so good in those days that I hardly ever had to lift my foot from the gas, 220 Km/h all the way.
Even the roads in Italy and Spain are better than in Germany at the moment as they get all the Euro cash to build new ones and resurface the old ones.

I guess you mean the headrest when you mention necksupport, it is not meant for resting your head against during driving, it just stops your neck from braking in case of an accident, the seats of the KJ are quite comfy and I can drive for 8 Hours straight without a problem.

The only thing you should not forget is that it's a 4x4 with big tyres so for safety reasons and fuel consumption is best to stay between 130 and 140, it will go to about 180 (CRD)but it will use a lot of diesel 14L/ 100km plus.

If you want to safe fuel, it will do about 8,5 L/100km (28 MPG) at 120 km/h constant, at least mine does, 2.5 CRD with 235 BFG's and 120.000 KM on the clock.

dieselenthusiast · **Posted:** Tue Jan 22, 2008 9:08 am

tommudd wrote:

dieselenthusiast wrote:

Great news Tom, now let’s slap a diesel in that Wrangler and call it good! Then the Jeep Sales would skyrocket in the U.S. reaching an all-time Wrangler peak for sales!

There are a few around, every once in a while you see something "interesting " in traffic around town

Here's a few photos of them with the manufactures tag.

http://www.lostjeeps.com/forum/phpBB3/vie ... c&start=15

sleeve84028 · **Posted:** Tue Jan 22, 2008 9:16 am

Truely good news for the Toledo Plant.. That place is crazy big and I always smile when I drive by.

Now if Jeep would just put more diesel vehicles on the road...

jerbacher · **Posted:** Tue Jan 22, 2008 9:50 am

slightly off topic, but maybe not really:

Why is diesel so freaking expensive?? Shouldn't it be cheaper then gasoline? Do we have taxes to thank for that?

Uffe · **Posted:** Tue Jan 22, 2008 10:03 am

Dutchy wrote:

The Autobahn in the East are better at the moment as they get all the money from the West with the result that the ones in the west are all run down, I did drive from Dusseldorf to Munich last summer and the state of the surface was awfull and sometimes dangerous. I used to drive this stretch a lot in the ninety's with My GTI and the road surface was so good in those days that I hardly ever had to lift my foot from the gas, 220 Km/h all the way.
Even the roads in Italy and Spain are better than in Germany at the moment as they get all the Euro cash to build new ones and resurface the old ones.

I guess you mean the headrest when you mention necksupport, it is not meant for resting your head against during driving, it just stops your neck from braking in case of an accident, the seats of the KJ are quite comfy and I can drive for 8 Hours straight without a problem.

The only thing you should not forget is that it's a 4x4 with big tyres so for safety reasons and fuel consumption is best to stay between 130 and 140, it will go to about 180 (CRD)but it will use a lot of diesel 14L/ 100km plus.

If you want to safe fuel, it will do about 8,5 L/100km at 120 km/h constant, at least mine does, 2.5 CRD with 235 BFG's and 120.000 KM on the clock.

Okay, hopefully we can go in a good tempo all the way. I suspect we will be going at 120kph as an average speed. Usually there are a few stages you go through on such a long journey. First step is getting to the autobahn, which takes a little while. Getting onto the autobahn and picking up some speed takes you to the speed you like to drive at. When you later realize that you are going a little too slow you speed up, as your hearing doesn't pick up all the sounds anymore it doesn't annoy you as much as when the trip started. Then in the late hours you begin to hammer it to get to your destination. I ended up taking a hard choice last time we went from southern france to Denmark in one long go. I had been driving for about 12 hours and at 1.00AM we decided to keep going to Denmark with no rest. So we left the rented car in Flensburg and headed back home in our Citroen Berlingo

I was so wasted when we got back home. Lucky for me my brother drove from Flensburg and home (300kms) from 4AM to 7AM. I had been driving from 9AM the day before with a few hours rest in the passenger seat so I had given it all I got and took a well deserved nap in the back of the Citroen from Flensburg.

I got about the same kms on my KJ as you. Mine is a 2.8 and I run those wrangler tyres. I have an automatic transmission but when it's up to temperature it will lock like a normal clutch and burns about the same amount of fuel as a manual. I haven't been able to obtain more than 10l/100km at 120kph, so I usually back down to 100-110 where I will do about 8-9l/100km. During winter this is true but as our trip will be in the summer I might be able to pull off a bit better economy at higher speeds. Will post back here for sure.

sleeve84028 · **Posted:** Tue Jan 22, 2008 10:51 am

jerbacher wrote:

Why is diesel so freaking expensive??

Not as many gallons of diesel produced when compared to gasoline (at least state side) and with the increase in demand for diesel the price has risen. Yet our country fails to produce another facility to relieve the stress of added demand. But that conversation would take this thread in the wrong direction.

jerbacher · **Posted:** Tue Jan 22, 2008 10:54 am

sleeve84028 wrote:

jerbacher wrote:

Why is diesel so freaking expensive??

Not as many gallons of diesel produced when compared to gasoline (at least state side) and with the increase in demand for diesel the price has risen. Yet our country fails to produce another facility to relieve the stress of added demand. But that conversation would take this thread in the wrong direction.

thanks for the info. and back to Toledo!

Chrysler to invest more $$$ into Toledo

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