2009 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon 3.8 Liter V6 Automatic 4x4 Lifted on 2040-cars

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First Jeepster prototype spotted with final, boxy form

The long-awaited baby Jeep is getting closer to production, as evidenced by these spy photos. Previously, the only images of the so-called Jeepster saw it wearing a Fiat 500L body (see below), while this new batch of photos show hefty amounts of camouflage. How is that better? Well, it's very likely there's a production body hiding under all that cladding.
While picking out styling details is virtually impossible thanks to all the camo, as our spies point out, this gives us a very sound idea of the Jeepster's final size. It's small, although we'd argue that it's only slightly smaller than the current Jeep Patriot, based on the images of the newest Jeep sitting in front of an Alfa Romeo Giulietta.
As we reported previously, this little bambino will be built on a Fiat platform, but the styling should be uniquely Jeep - likely to include a somewhat vertical seven-slat grille and round headlights. We can expect to see a production Jeepster, if that ends up being the actual name (Latitude has been rumored, although as that's traditionally a trim level, we imagine there'd be some confusion), when it debuts at the 2014 Geneva Motor Show.

Watch this Jeep Willys return to its birthplace after 70 years

Earlier this month, a very significant Jeep was celebrated at the Toledo North Assembly plant. No, it wasn't the upcoming reincarnation of the Jeep Cherokee, but instead it was a 1943 Willys MB that visited the Toledo grounds where it had been built exactly 70 years ago to the day.
Of course, the actual building where the MBs rolled off the assembly line before heading to Europe for World War II no longer exists, but that didn't stop Italian owner Vittorio Argento from having the vehicle shipped to the US to make its trek back to its birth place. According to Chrysler, Argento's MB is still 95-percent original and it drove 1,000 miles from New Jersey to Toledo.
The whole adventure was chronicled on a blog aptly named A Jeep Comes Home. Scroll down for a brief video from Chrysler and for some photos of the Toledo visit and be sure to read more at Argento's blog.

Chrysler earns $1.7B in 2012, revises product plans for US

Hot on the heels of Ford's earnings announcement for the year that was, Chrysler today reported a 2012 net income of $1.7 billion, up substantially from the comparatively minuscule $183 million profit earned in 2011 when it repaid its US government loans.
Chrysler's good year ended with an excellent fourth quarter that saw net income rise 68 percent from $225 million in 2011 to $378 million. Where are all those extra earnings coming from? Market share, which Chrysler saw increase to 11.4% last year on sales of 1.65 million vehicles. In fact, the Auburn Hills, MI-based automaker out-paced the industry's market growth of 13 percent last year with sales up 21 percent for the year.
The company also revealed an updated product plan for its Chrysler Group and Fiat brands that looks all the way out to 2016. It's an updated version of the plan introduced in 2009 shortly after Fiat took control of the American automaker, and includes such new additions as an Alfa Romeo model, likely the 4C, to be introduced in the US this year, as well five more Alfa models by 2016. Likewise, Fiat will be growing by an additional seven models in the coming few years.