Next Jeep Wrangler to get new body and engines

Jeep is exploring a high-tech engineering future for the next Wrangler with an alloy body and downsized turbocharged engines. Such a move would open a significant technical lead over the rival Land Rover Defender.

The plan has been divulged by Sergio Marchionne, chairman of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FAC), which owns Jeep. He cited Ford’s move to a weight-saving aluminium chassis for the F150 pick-up.

“Discussions about moving to alloy from steel for the Wrangler are going on now,” Marchionne said. The plan centres around modern powertrains that, Marchionne said, “require a complete rethink of the architecture”.

Marchionne also said that Jeep wants to “modernise the Wrangler while preserving all its capabilities”. He listed “significant improvements” in the interior and driving manners as targets.

US Wranglers are sold with a 3.6-litre V6. European ones have a 2.8-litre four-cylinder diesel rated at up to 34mpg. These could easily be replaced by single or twin-turbo 2.0-litre petrol and diesel engines that make more power and torque and offer more performance, better fuel economy and lower emissions thanks to lighter bodywork.

Marchionne didn’t confirm whether the Wrangler would ditch its body-on-frame construction, but it is highly likely because he said that Jeep’s existing Toledo plant would not be able to build the new Wrangler.

Given the switch from steel body-on-frame to alloy unibody, it’s reasonable to estimate that the new Wrangler might save up to 400kg, cutting the kerb weight of a five-door model to about 1800kg.

Such a move would put pressure on Land Rover to do the same with its new Defender, which could be on the market at a similar time to the new Wrangler, around 2016/17.

Just as the Defender defines Land Rover brand values, so are Jeep’s embodied by the Wrangler, which established the ‘Trail Rated’ measure.

Any Trail Rated Jeep must pass gruelling off-road tests, particularly the Rubicon trail – 17 miles of boulders, river crossings and acute climbs and descents in the Sierra Nevada desert.