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2014 Jeep Cherokee gets official in a hurry

Automakers work very, very hard to keep their new vehicles under wraps until they can present them in exactly the way they want it - typically choreographed under the bright lights of an auto show, or perhaps with photos or video in an idyllic location. Spy shooters and leaks, in other words, keep executives and public-relations types up at night.
This is likely to be one of the most polarizing designs to come out in 2014.
Take today, for instance, when the team over at Jalopnik got a big scoop - the first undisguised shots of the 2014 Jeep Cherokee, a model whose name wasn't even officially confirmed yet. The clandestine images taken inside of a factory were blurry and didn't exactly show off the crossover's radical new contours in the same sort of flattering light that Jeep probably would've wished for its product reveal. So the Auburn Hills automaker has wisely reacted by spilling at least some of the beans on the new model, giving us these four photos and confirming the Liberty replacement's name, Cherokee.

Fiat Chrysler target 850k sales in China by 2018

Behind the vanguard of numerous Jeep models, two Chryslers, a smattering of Fiats and Alfa Romeos and local production through a joint venture with Guangzhou Automotive Group (GAG), Fiat Chrysler wants to increase sales in China more than six-fold by 2018. The group sold 130,000 cars in China in 2013, the aim for 2018 being 850,000 cars.
Ultimately it's expected that the Jeep Grand Cherokee, Cherokee, Wrangler, Renegade, the coming Grand Wagoneer and a sub-Renegade-sized crossover will either be built in or exported to the People's Republic. The Chrysler Town & Country and 300 will join the export list in 2016 and 2018 respectively, according to a report in Automotive News.
With a number of those vehicles not in production or perhaps even envisaged yet, and others not due on the local market until 2018, it will be interesting to see how Fiat Chrysler plans to achieve the target in the specified timeframe. The joint venture with GAG builds two products now, the Dodge Dart-based Fiat Viaggio launched two years ago - supposedly designed just for China - and the just-launched Fiat Ottimo, a hatchback version of the Viaggio. Fiat projected 300,000 Viagio sales in its first two years, that number has been adjusted downward to 94,000 and there doesn't appear to be an analyst alive that sees a good future for Fiat in China's overrun mainstream market. Still, last year's 130,000 group sales in China is a huge jump from 2012 sales of 66,000 units, but less than half the 300,000 units it projected.

Finding surfing spots in the UK is tough work, even in a Jeep

You truly have to love surfing to practice the sport in the United Kingdom. The area isn't exactly teeming with warm beaches full of sunbathers, and absolutely no easy spots to find big waves. To be a UK surfer, you need to be a fearless adventurer, not to mention quite lucky. And driving a Jeep might help, too.
Surfers Oli Adams and Micah Lester are traveling around the British Isles in a Jeep Wrangler Overland trying to find the best surf spots out there. These guys don't fit the laid-back surfer stereotype, but that's because finding waves in the UK is hard work. They say that the waves at some of these spots only exist for about three hours every year when the current and winds are just right.
To find these surf spots, the Jeep's offroad capabilities are paramount. In some areas, as you'll see in the video, there isn't even a beach, just jagged rocks. It would be like the movie Endless Summer, that is, if it could start snowing at any moment. These guys are clearly dedicated to their sport.