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New Jeep Cherokee: New York Auto Show 2013

The new Jeep Cherokee has its official public debut at the 2013 New York Auto Show today with 9-speed gearbox and based on a  Fiat platform. Now, with the New York Auto Show about to kick off (which you might reasonably have thought was yesterday after the flurry of activity from Jaguar and Land Rover) we get a full set of photos of the Cherokee and specifications. The new Cherokee sits on the Chrysler/Fiat Compact US Wide platform which gets independent front and rear suspension which, say Jeep, offers great on-road dynamics without sacrificing off-road ability and comes with a 9-speed auto box and a choice – at least in the US – of 184bhp 2.4 litre 4-cylinder or 271bhp 3.2 litre Pentastar V6.

Volvo Plug-In Hybrid by 2012

Volvo are working on a plug in Hybrid for 2012 offerng 50g/km Co2 emissions Laudable though this intent is, it’s a little like the Vauxhall / Opel Ampera – it relies on technology that doesn’t yet exist to deliver what it promises. But to get things moving, Volvo are going to be running a number of Volvo V70 diesel-electric Hybrids round Europe this year, to guage customer feedback and try to establish exactly what the consumer wants. They also want to establish exactly what the consumer can live with in terms of ‘Re-fuelling’.

Suzuki iV-4 concept stars at the 2013 Frankfurt Motor Show

Suzuki has recognised the importance of the compact crossover, rolling out its new iV-4 mid-size SUV here at Frankfurt 2013. This new car almost certainly previews a rival to the Nissan Juke scheduled for release in 2015, and could replace Suzuki’s ageing current generation Grand Vitara SUV. If it looks like this, Nissan could well have a fight on its hands.