If there’s one thing that off-roaders are universally waiting for, it’s the next-Gen Jeep Wrangler. It seems that whether you’re a GM guy, or a Ford fan, or a Dodge (Ram) devotee, any news of any kind about the soon-to-be-released all-new Jeep Wrangler is an attention grabber. And aside from the desperately desired diesel engine implant, about the next best thing would be a transmission with gears numbering more than five.

Well, it appears that day may come soon, if not soon enough for some Wrangler fans. The Jeep Wrangler redesign for 2018 that Chrysler announced earlier this year will, apparently, be offered with with an eight-speed automatic transmission.

Nobody with a job they want to keep will talk about it, however, in a filing this month with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the company has shown its cards early in the game concerning its decision about an automatic transmission choice for the 2018 Wrangler.

According to a story in Automotive News, the normally careful and conservative car builder wrote in the filing, “The eight-speed transmission is currently paired with gasoline and diesel engines in the 2014 Ram 1500 and Jeep Grand Cherokee and is also featured in the new 2014 Dodge Durango. We plan to use this transmission in all of our rear-wheel-drive vehicles, except for heavy-duty versions of the Ram pickup truck and the SRT Viper.”

All we can say is we’re glad to hear it, and truly hope Jeep decides to pair it with something akin to the extremely well performing 3.0-liter diesel powerplant currently available in the Grand Cherokee. Now that would be awesome!