Mork Calling Orson: New Jeep Wrangler Scheduled for 2017

This is the current Wrangler, but the new one will undoubtedly be an off-road bad-ass, too.

Upon the occasion of the release of Fiat-Chrysler’s Five-Year Plan, we’ve come to learn that thevenerable Jeep Wrangler, a vehicle descendend from a fascism-crushing ally of FYP-O.G. Joe Stalin, will see a redesign in 2017. That’s all the info that FCA’s meted out at the moment—we gleaned some details a while ago, which you can read here and here—but it’s interesting to note that the Wrangler, which is currently in its eighth model year, will be fresh around the same time Land Rover launches its Defender line.

When we spoke to Land Rover design director Gerry McGovern last month, he noted that the next Defenders will start in at a “very affordable” price point in a stripped-down, utilitarian configuration. Which reads like direct competition for the new Jeep. At some point, Mercedes-Benz will replace the hoary Geländewagen, although we may wind up being very, very old when that happens. We will, however, look forward to a three-way comparo of the any-terrain titans in their post-Cold War golden years.