2012 Honor Roll: Jeep Picks up Where It Left Off

After hauling away some of the industry’s top honors in 2011, the Jeep brand is keeping the pedal to the metal this year: The Jeep Grand Cherokee and Jeep Wrangler already have combined to score 10 more awards in just the first two weeks of 2012.

The Wrangler kicked things off with Autobytel’s 2012 SUV of the Year title, then took the same crown from Overland Journal. It also has earned the nod as Best Car for the Money in the Off-Road SUV category from U.S. News & World Reports, and as Play Car of the Year, in both the Off-Roaders and Sun Lovers segments, from Cars.com. The Wrangler also has driven off with two “Recommended” recognitions from Vehix, in the Convertible Under $40,000 class and the SUV Under $30,000 class.

The Jeep flagship, the Grand Cherokee, was a Vehix “Recommended” choice as an SUV Under $30,000, earned the same status from Consumer Guide, and saw its hi-po variant, the Grand Cherokee SRT8, race into contention as one of the Top 10 Most Fun to Drive Cars from The Fast Lane Car (TFLCar.com).

And the Jeep brand itself garnered a Polk Automotive Loyalty Award for Most Improved Loyalty to Make.

Even better, the new Jeep lineup isn’t just piling up the awards, it’s doing the same thing with sales. Jeep was the fastest-growing auto brand in the entire country in 2011, raising sales by an incredible 44 percent—a rate four times faster than for the industry as a whole. Further, helping Jeep score a total of 419,349 sales, every model on the Jeep team increased deliveries by at least 30 percent. Leading the way? The Jeep Compass, which grew sales by a stellar 200 percent last year.

“The awards we have received from these media and industry influencers are a huge testament to the Jeep brand and its vehicles, and I am grateful for each and every one of them,” said Mike Manley, president and CEO of Jeep. “And without question, the most important recognition we receive occurs when our customers vote with their checkbook. For Jeep to be recognized as the brand with the largest increase in customer loyalty is fantastic. My thanks go out to all of our Jeep customers for their business.”

Read more: http://www.jeepinthenews.com/2012-honor-roll-jeep-picks-up-where-it-left-off/

Art will be focus of Martin Luther King celebration at Bottle Works Ethnic Arts Center

Black history will be told through art. “A Painting Is Worth a Thousand Words,” featuring artwork by Gregory Rance Thompson and Penelope Wilson, will be the centerpiece of a Martin Luther King Day celebration Monday at Bottle Works Ethnic Arts Center, 411 Third Ave. in the Cambria City section of Johnstown. A reception will be held from  2 to 5 p.m., and both artists will be in attendance, said activities director Beth Elston. The exhibit will be on display through February, in celebration of Black History Month.
“We expect to use the exhibit as a backdrop for an activity later in February, maybe a lecture,” Elston said. Thompson, a Johnstown native, enjoys drawing on poster board with watercolors, markers or graphite. Figures and characters are prominent in the self-taught artist’s work, and he has completed murals on buildings and walls in various homes throughout the Johnstown area as well as doing greeting cards.

Read more: http://tribune-democrat.com/events/x2145130598/Art-will-be-focus-of-Martin-Luther-King-celebration

The “Show Stopping” Jeep Hurricane

 

The "Show-stopping" Jeep Hurricane goes from concept to showroom floors!

Show-stopping concepts and extreme expressions of the Chrysler Group LLC brands aren't new: Dodge had its Tomahawk and Chrysler, the ME Four-Twelve. But when the Jeep® Hurricane blew onto Auto Show stage, it raised the bar for the Jeep brand.

"Jeep Hurricane is simply the most maneuverable, most capable and most powerful 4x4 ever built," said Trevor Creed, Senior Vice President—Chrysler Group LLC Design. "It pays homage to the extreme enthusiasts' Jeep vehicles in form and off-road capability, but is a unique interpretation of Jeep design. Simply stated, it is the extreme example for the Jeep brand."

Hurricane represents the continued success of bold concept vehicles for the brands as a means of demonstrating Chrysler Group LLC's creative and mechanical expertise. For example, powerful powertrain performance is an understatement considering the Hurricane is not just HEMI®-equipped, but HEMI squared. There are two 5.7-liter HEMI engines in the vehicle: one in the front and one in the back. Both engines deliver 335 horsepower and 370 lb-ft of torque—a total of 670 hp and 740 lb-ft of torque.

Can you have responsible excess? To test the theory, we equipped both HEMI engines in the Jeep Hurricane with the Chrysler Group LLC Multi-Displacement System (MDS). Depending on the driver's needs, the Hurricane can be powered by 4-, 8-, 12- or 16-cylinders.  All of that translates into buckets of torque for climbing obstacles other 4x4 vehicles can't even comprehend. In addition, it has the power and traction to move from 0-60 in less than five seconds.

The power is delivered through a central transfer case and split axles with a mechanically controlled four-wheel torque distribution system. The front and rear suspension is short/long arm independent with 20 inches of suspension travel, controlled by coilover shocks with remote reservoirs.

Read more: http://www.jeep.com/en/autoshow/concept_vehicles/hurricane/

Chrysler 300 Still Turns Heads

The Chrysler 300 flagship sedan offers style on a grand scale and a roomy interior reminiscent of the big American sedans of yesteryear. But the V-8-powered SRT8 version of the 300 provides another, less nostalgic blast from the past: It guzzles gas.

The 470-horsepower, 2012 Chrysler 300 SRT8, with the performance to rival pricier Mercedes-Benz and Lexus sedans, has a government fuel economy rating of only 14 miles a gallon in city driving and 23 mpg on the highway. That's worse than the V-8-powered 2012 Jaguar XJ and Lexus LS 460 and even the 2012 Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck with V-8.

But no one would confuse the expressive Chrysler 300 with a truck, a Jaguar or a Lexus.

Revamped over the past two years but still using the same rear-wheel-drive platform, the Chrysler 300 seems like a new, full-size sedan.

What once looked like a Bentley now has a more modern headlight shape, light-emitting diode daytime running lamps and a black-colored grille that adds a sinister, yet attractive flair to the 300 SRT8.

Click Here to read more about the 300 SRT8!