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Jeep patents Bronco-like donut doors for the Wrangler

Jeep has received a patent for donut doors that appear similar to a design shown on the Ford Bronco at its 2020 reveal. Ford’s version never made it to production, however, and it’s unclear if Jeep’s design will either.

Like the concept versions shown on the Bronco, Jeep’s donut doors are essentially regular doors with cutouts, providing a bit more protection from mud and weather than tube doors. However, documents first spotted by The Drive show that Jeep applied for a patent in May 2017, so the Stellantis brand isn’t simply copying Ford.

The doors shown in the patent images also look identical to those fitted to the Wrangler Switchback concept, which was unveiled in March 2017. It was one of seven concepts Jeep brought to the Easter Safari in Moab, Utah, that year as part of an annual tradition.

Jeep Switchback for Moab Easter Jeep Safari, 2017

The Switchback was a previous-generation Wrangler JK, but following its unveiling reports circulated that Jeep was considering offering donut doors on the successor Wrangler JL, which hadn’t been revealed at the time. Jeep also brought a prototype Wrangler JL with donut doors to the 2017 Los Angeles auto show.

Jeep reportedly dropped plans to offer donuts doors sometime after that, but apparently continued with the patent application process. Stellantis public relations would not comment on the donut-door patent, but it’s worth noting that automakers often patent things without a specific use in mind.

For now, Jeep offers tube doors as a factory accessory. You can even get them for the Wrangler 4xe plug-in hybrid model.

Chrysler Airflow concept, likely electric, debuting at 2022 CES

Chrysler has looked a little moribund in recent years but that’s set to change under the guidance of new parent company Stellantis.

The brand plans to go the full-electric route by as early as 2028, and will launch its first electric car by 2025. As a preview of what that electric future might be like, Chrysler is presenting the Airflow concept at the 2022 Consumer Electronics Show getting underway in Las Vegas later today.

The Airflow is a sleek electric crossover with a claimed range of between 350 and 400 miles, plus fast-charging capability and Stellantis’ recently announced artificial intelligence-backed software platforms covering the car’s operating system (STLA Brain), infotainment system (STLA SmartCockpit), and self-driving system (STLA AutoDrive). Power comes from an electric motor at each axle, each rated at 201 hp.

The interior has an open and airy feel thanks to light tones and a wide panoramic sunroof. The highlight here is the new dash design which features three screens spanning almost the full width of the dash. There’s also a camera facing each seat, enabling occupants to participate in a video conference call if desired.

Chrysler Airflow concept

Chrysler also mentions that the Airflow is fitted with a self-driving system rated at Level 3 on the SAE scale of self-driving capability. Chrysler didn’t provide details on the situations in which the Airflow can handle itself, but the Level 3 rating indicates that, in certain situations, the concept can handle itself but requires the driver to be ready to take back control at any time.

Chrysler stopped short of confirming the Airflow for production, but new CEO Christine Feuell said in a statement that the concept previews technologies bound for future electric vehicles and that it represents the future direction of the brand—namely one that’s electrified and connected.

Fans of the brand will also recognize the link with the original Chrysler Airflow (actually a family of models) of the 1930s, which was the first production car designed for low aerodynamic drag using a wind tunnel. While it ended up being a sales dud, the Airflow is remembered today for its engineering innovation, many of which feature in modern cars. For example, it moved the engine forward, which improved passenger space. Passengers also sat between the axles, which improved comfort. Airline engineering principles also created a lighter, stiffer body, making the car fast for its day.

For more CES news, head to our dedicated hub.

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Michigan Car Salesman Cost FCA $8.7 Million Due To Fake Employee Discounts

If you visited Apollon Nimo at his Detroit-based Parkway Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram dealership, you might have walked out with a damn good deal. In fact, your deal might have been too good to be true. That’s because Nimo was illegally using employee discounts to cut customers good deals, even when those customers failed to qualify for that discount, Auto News reports. In fact, he scammed FCA—now Stellantis—out of about $8.7 million.

In many cases, Nimo nabbed the discount codes from various Facebook groups of which he was part. Here’s more from the article:

In the majority of transactions that prosecutors allege were fraudulent, buyers claimed to be the brother-in-law or sister-in-law of an FCA employee to get a 5 percent discount. The discount codes, known as Employee Purchase Control Numbers (EPCNs), were often bought and sold through private Facebook groups.

Nimo frequently topped the list of auto sellers who sold cars using employee discounts and was handsomely rewarded for being a top salesman. He reportedly received $700,000 in bonuses directly from FCA since 2014, when he first started using his codes—and that’s in addition to dealership-specific rewards.

Out of the 268 unauthorized EPCNs that have been analyzed, every single one was linked back to Nimo. And there could honestly be more, as per FOX 2 Detroit:

A manager at Sterling Heights Dodge Chrysler Jeep Ram told federal investigators that Nimo sold about 250 cars in January 2020. The same manager said Nimo sells more vehicles than entire sales departments at most FCA dealerships.

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So, how did Nimo get away with it for so long? One man who leased three cars from Nimo in December of 2018 stated that Nimo claimed FCA doesn’t review the use of ‘in-law’ relationships with EPCN purchases. So, you could claim to be the mother-, sister-, father-, or son-in-law of an FCA employee, and FCA would be less likely to catch it—possibly because it’s not as intuitive to identify relationships with people who don’t share blood or direct legal ties.

The investigation kicked off after several FCA employees complained that their personal discount codes were being used without their consent. This is where that 268 number comes from; these were just from people who complained. It’s possible many other people had no idea their EPCN was being used.

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I Would Not Want To Be Running Chrysler Right Now

The Morning ShiftAll your daily car news in one convenient place. Isn’t your time more important?

VW lost half its profits last year, Nissan is trying to dodge tariffs, and flying cars. All that and more in The Morning Shift for January 22, 2021.

1st Gear: Stellantis CEO Now Faced With 38 Daily Reports Running FCA-PSA Megamerger

I don’t know what’s more surprising from this report in Automotive News: that Carlos Tavares will be receiving 38 daily reports while running Stellantis (double what he got running the already chimera-like Peugeot-Citroën mass of PSA), or that FCA’s CEO Mike Manley was already fielding 22 daily reports himself. From AN:

Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares will have 38 top executives reporting directly to him at the new automotive group – more than twice as many than at PSA Group, and considerably more than the last two CEOs at Fiat Chrysler.

[…]

That number of direct reports is one of the highest in the automotive industry. When Sergio Marchionne merged Chrysler into Fiat to create FCA, he had a total of 28 direct reports. Marchionne’s successor at the helm of FCA, Mike Manley, had 22 functions reporting directly to him. At PSA, Tavares had 18 direct reports.

There are also six deputies, AN notes, meaning that Stellantis will have 44 top executives overseeing nine committees: Business Review, Strategy Council, Global Program Committee, Industrial Committee, Allocations Committee, Region Committee, Brand Review, Brand Committee, Styling Review.

I would not want to be in charge of ensuring the success of any one individual cog in that machine. Maybe I would feel a little relaxation that anything I do is only ever going to be 1/38th of the responsibilities of my ultimate superior.

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2nd Gear: VW Lost Half Its Profits In 2020

This is a fun one, as news stories are popping up both that VW lost half its operating profits last year, and also that VW somehow still turned out a profit at all. I guess it’s a glass half full/half empty sort of news item.

Here’s the glass half empty side, coming from Bloomberg and Reuters wire reports in Automotive News:

Volkswagen Group’s 2020 adjusted operating profit nearly halved but the automaker said its vehicle deliveries continued to recover strongly in the fourth quarter.

Operating profit before special items related to the diesel-emissions scandal was about 10 billion euros ($12.2 billion), VW said in a statement on Friday.

The automaker, whose brands include Porsche, Audi and Bentley, had reported an operating profit of 19.3 billion euros in 2019.

And here is the glass half full side, coming from the Financial Times:

While the VW marque stuttered in 2020, with delayed launches of its Golf 8 model and its flagship electric car, the ID. 3, the group’s premium brands enjoyed an extraordinary rebound, particularly in China.

Audi recorded its best-ever quarter in the last three months of 2020, selling more than half a million cars in the period for the first time.

Porsche sales dropped just 3 per cent over the course of the year, and deliveries in China were up by more than 2,000 units on 2019, despite widespread lockdowns and dealership closures.

In the midst of all of VW’s big EV push, the company still failed to hit its EU emissions targets and got more than €100m in fines. Making cars is hard!

3rd Gear: Nissan To Make More Batteries In UK To Dodge Brexit Tariffs

Nissan runs the UK’s biggest car plant in large part because of import restrictions put on Japanese cars in the 1980s. Now Nissan will be making more batteries in the UK because of Brexit, as Reuters reports:

Following Britain’s departure from the European Union, London and Brussels struck a trade deal on Dec. 24 that avoided major disruption as well as a 10% levy on cars, provided they meet local content rules.

Nissan makes about 30,000 Leaf electric cars at its Sunderland factory, most with a locally sourced 40 kilowatt-hour battery. They remain tariff-free.

But more powerful versions use an imported system, which will now be bought in Britain, creating jobs.

“It will take a few months,” Gupta said. “Brexit, which we thought is a risk … has become an opportunity for Nissan.”

I don’t think the book is at all closed on Brexit and the car world. We’ve seen a lot of increased homogeneity in the global car market over the past few decades (hell, Australia doesn’t even make its own cars anymore) and I wonder if at some point the pendulum will swing back to more local regulation, protection, and production.

4th Gear: Terrafugia Still At It

Geely, a Chinese car company not owned by the government but hell-bent on owning everything else, controls Terrafugia. Apparently, the lights are still on over there:

I’m glad that everyone at Terrafugia is collecting a paycheck, though god knows I don’t think much will come of it. I grew up on the other side of town from the Moller Skycar guy.

5th Gear: Balloon Business Struggled To Reach Profitability In Silicon Valley

I feel like my youth in Northern California was a real heyday for whacko high/low tech schemes. I don’t know how many times I heard about a space elevator, and I think I was reminded of hot air balloons on a daily basis.

It is with that in mind that I enjoyed this New York Times story on some Silicon Valley brainiacs finding a hard time making their scheme to disseminate cell service from the stratosphere using balloons:

Google’s parent company Alphabet is shutting down Loon, a high-profile subsidiary spun out from its research labs that used high-altitude helium balloons to deliver cellular connectivity from the stratosphere.

Nearly a decade after it began the project, Alphabet said on Thursday that it pulled the plug on Loon because it did not see a way to reduce costs to create a sustainable business. Along with the self-driving car unit Waymo, Loon was one of the most hyped “moonshot” technology projects to emerge from Alphabet’s research lab, X.

“The road to commercial viability has proven much longer and riskier than hoped. So we’ve made the difficult decision to close down Loon,” Astro Teller, who heads X, wrote in a blog post. Alphabet said it expected to wind down operations in “the coming months” with the hope of finding other positions for Loon employees at Alphabet.

Honestly, I don’t think the problem here is with the balloons, it’s with the social structure that requires them to somehow make money for somebody. You just wait until I’m typing the same thing for autonomous vehicles.

Reverse: Endless Horrible Car Ads To Follow

Neutral: What Car Brand Would You Like To Run?

Let me at Opel. Just for a minute. Please. it’ll be fun, I swear.

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The Ban On The Mahindra Roxor Has Been Lifted But FCA Still Wants To Fight

The Mahindra Roxor is coming back! Mahindra has now satisfied regulators by redesigning the Roxor, an off-road side-by-side whose styling was a little — no, a lot — too familiar for the legal department of Fiat Chrysler.

In 2018, FCA filed a complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission, arguing that the Roxor’s Jeep-inspired styling features infringed on Jeep’s intellectual property. In June, the ITC ruled in Jeep’s favor, prohibiting the sale of Roxors and parts.

Last week, the ITC ruled that the post-2020 Roxor model does not violate what is called the “trade dress” of Jeep, so Mahindra can now manufacture and distribute the 2021 Roxor. While the end of the ban is great news for Mahindra, FCA isn’t happy. From Reuters:

While FCA is disappointed with the commission’s decision regarding the redesign, we believe we will be successful in appealing this decision.

Why was Jeep upset in the first place? I’ll let our David Tracy explain:

The complaint, filed Wednesday (and shown in full at the bottom of this article), claims that Mahindra has “engaged in unlawful acts…through their unlicensed importation, sale for importation, or sale after importation of… products that infringe and dilute FCA’s distinctive Jeep vehicle trade dress.”

FCA defines that trade dress as the following design features:

(i) A boxy body shape with flat appearing vertical side and rear body panels ending at about the same height as the hood;

(ii) Substantially flat hood with curved side edges that tapers to be narrower at the front;

(iii) Trapezoidal front wheel wells with front fenders or fender flares that extend beyond the front of the grille;

(iv) Flat appearing grille with vertical elongated grille slots and a trapezoidal outline that curves around round headlamps positioned on the upper part of the grille;

(v) Exterior hood latches;

(vi) Door cutouts above a bottom portion of the side body panels

The original Roxor design that Jeep didn’t like looked like this:

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Jeep’s and Mahindra’s products exist in two completely different markets. Why would Jeep care that Mahindra wants to build a side-by-side that looks like a Jeep that not even Jeep makes anymore? Who out there is cross-shopping a Roxor with a Wrangler? While I think these are good questions, this legal battle isn’t about the Roxor snagging Wrangler sales.

This essentially boils down to how intellectual property is handled in this country. In short, if you don’t defend your intellectual property, you risk your work becoming generic and losing out on some rights. IP owners are essentially obligated to police their works.

Mahindra gave the 2020 Roxor a new grille — one that looked something like an old Toyota J40 Land Cruiser — but it did not win approval. That’s a shame, as I thought the second version of the Roxor looked even cooler than the first.

The 2021 Roxor design that’s now approved for sale alters the trade dress items that Jeep’s complaint cited . This comes from Mahindra’s petition to the ITC detailing the Roxor’s post-2020 design. The design is certainly striking, to say the least.

Check out David Tracy’s deep dive on the Roxor’s new design.
Mahindra had this to say to us regarding the design of the 2021 Roxor:

The 2021 redesign was led by our design team here in the U.S. ROXOR was an immediate hit with people who use if [sic] for recreational use….and over the past couple of years its gained a ton of interest from farmers and commercial users who are tired of needing to constantly fix and replace the light duty, plastic-bodied, side by sides they’ve been using. While the redesign addresses several areas of trade dress it was done as much or more to appeal to people who like ROXOR for its ruggedness and durability. That’s the main theme our design team worked with to come up with the new styling.

It also answers the question of Roxor’s market aim. I love the Roxor for being something a bit different with an already growing aftermarket. It’s not just for off-roaders, but farmers, too. You can even get air-conditioning and heat in one of these.

As for those ITC images? They’re the real deal. Mahindra tells me it will have more photos in a release weeks from now.

I’m happy that Mahindra won this round. I absolutely understand Jeep’s fight here, as it’s something it pretty much has to do. But I think Mahindra sufficiently changed the design for the 2021 model. It’ll be interesting to see how FCA’s appeal is handled.

I hope to see some of these in the wild. They look properly fun!