Steering You Right with Sharon Peters: Jeep Revisited
Q: A buddy told me he heard the Jeep Wagoneer is going to be made again. That would be really great. True?
A: It appears to be. Several reporters who attended the North American International Auto Show in Detroit in January wrote that Fiat Chrysler announced plans to resurrect the big old Jeep Wagoneer SUV. There also will be a super-luxury Grand Wagoneer.
No specifics yet on precisely when, but speculation is it will be between 2019 and 2021. There also will be a Jeep pickup truck.
Ford announced at the same auto show it is also revisiting the past: resurrecting the Bronco.
Q: Chevrolet makes the Volt, and also something called the Bolt? Could they be any more annoying?
A: The Volt has been around for awhile. It’s a plug-in electric car that has a backup gas engine.
The Bolt, which is a newcomer, is a fully electric car with the extraordinary range of 238 miles, which is about 100 miles more than most other electric cars on the market (except the Tesla).
The Bolt, at a cost of about $37,000, has impressed a lot of folks – garnering all kinds of awards, including being named North American Car of the Year a few months back.
And I agree with you that the similarity in names is confusing and annoying. Carmakers have, in recent years, seemed to be making naming decisions that effectively accomplish one thing only: confusing the consumer. There are about 470,000 words in the latest edition of the Merriam-Webster Dictionary – with more than 1,000 more to be added soon. You’d think with all those options carmakers could come up with better names.
Q: We’re thinking of going electric, and hear VW is going to be having several electric vehicles on the market soon. Can you give specifics?
A: It’s true that Volkswagen has indicated it will be developing a large cadre of electric cars – as many as 30.
VW has introduced three different electric “concept cars” at various car shows in recent months. However, the company is looking farther down the road than you might be willing to wait: it plans to bring some of them to market by 2020, according to reports from the Shanghai Auto show in April.
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Sharon Peters What’s your question? Sharon Peters would like to hear about what’s on your mind when it comes to caring for, driving and repairing your vehicle. Email Sharon@ctwfeatures.com.