Jeeps are plain cool no matter where.
Japan has long been familiar with the Jeep brand, going all the way back to WWII. During the conflict, Japanese soldiers captured an abandoned US Army Jeep in the Philippines and sent it home to be reverse-engineered. The result was the first Toyota Land Cruiser. Today, Jeeps remain very popular in Japan and the automaker intends to seriously expand volume over the next three years.
Automotive News reports this new expansion plan involves opening at least 100 new dealerships in the country through 2023. Currently, there are 82. Over the next three years, Jeep aims to sell over 20,000 units a year, up from last year s record of 13,588. This was also Japan s seventh consecutive year of record Jeep sales, despite the pandemic.
Vans From Japan
The Mitsubishi J-Series was born and it remained in production until 1998 when new emissions and safety regulations kicked in. Its successor was the also recently discontinued Mitsubishi Pajero. During its 45-year lifetime, around 200,000 examples were built on short, medium, and long wheelbases. SUV, station wagon, and convertible body styles were available and so were a range of gasoline and diesel engines.
Mitsubishi only offered the Jeep with a manual transmission, making this 4x4 truly old school. Beginning with the 1995 model year (soon to be 1996), the 25-year import ban has expired, thus making it possible for Americans to own one of these right-hand-drive-only CJs.
2020 Land Rover Defender challenges Wrangler, Bronco with new looks, tech
The 2020 Land Rover Defender four-door 110 model shown can climb a 45 degree slope. (Nick Dimbleby/Jaguar Land Rover North America/TNS)
Published December 11. 2020 12:05AM
By Mark Phelan, Detroit Free Press
Possibly the most Newtonian vehicle ever produced, the 2020 Land Rover Defender is an equal and opposite reaction to other SUVs’ motion to become ever more at home in upscale grocery store lots and valet lines outside restaurants.
Ike Newton s second law of motion in vehicular form, the Defender is Land Rover s existential counterpunch, built to ford raging streams and cross over burning sands that would devastate other brands soft-roaders.