So the question remains: why only apply hybrid technology to the Wrangler? Is it because only the Wrangler is sold internationally? Is it because the Wrangler is the only vehicle that can't meet international standards?
I realize you are Canadian (at least your profile says you live in Canada), but I do not agree with that the rest of the country follows California in terms of regulation. As an American, I can honestly say that California laws are so different from the rest of the states that many Americans consider it to be a completely separate country. Granted I am not as familiar when it comes to car regulations so I could be wrong, but I do know a few things.
It's not being only applied to the Wrangler, it's part of a larger migration, but the focus of the presentation was on the Grand Cherokee, RAM and Wrangler platforms, and for our discussion the Wrangler.
Which doesn't mean that the Renegade and baby Cherokee don't get it first. However, remember that the Renegade, Cherokee and Grand Cherokee are ALL exported internationally. The Grand Cherokee used to be a Chinese darling, but suffered recent sales drop with their economic bump.
As for the California reference it is an auto industry thing, where the regulations of your largest market drives alot of the focus of you development and production. The fact that other states are already on-board with California's regulatory proposal simply continues to give weight to that known adage, since the ZEV Alliance comprise: California, Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island and Vermont.
But most importantly is that more regions than just the US are moving in that direction, that China, Japan and Germany (a ZEV Alliance Member) are adopting such regulation, it means that the producing countries are also moving that direction and FCA needs to keep pace with them as do all producers.
In addition, if we ever get a president into office that has any sense, many of these impossible-to-meet regulations will disappear, but that is a completely different topic haha.
They are far from impossible to meet, you just have a very VERY lazy American Industrial complex that would rather do things cheaply now than be the leader in the technologies of tomorrow. People are worried about keeping a job in the coal mine rather than the solar / wind industry (which has other trade and Intellectual Property issues also).
It's ridiculous that people are so resistant to change and think we still need to be driving inefficient vehicles rather than making them efficient and practical. The CAFE standards should've been up'ed long ago and we should be well beyond where we are in Auto technology, but we let the industry drag its feet and push regulations back, including simple things like rear-view cameras.
I'm not overly pro/anti business/environment, I just want progress to be more along the lines of the Pentastar which offered more power AND efficiency, rather than the industry dragging its feet until radical stuff has to happen that kills vehicle models.