Anyone else unreasonably excited by the idea of a Jeep pick-up truck? Or is it just me?
The Gladiator idea is not new for Jeep, although I’ll admit I’d largely forgotten this part of Jeep’s history. From the early 1960s, Jeep had a truck in its line-up, which lived on with various names until AMC, Jeep’s parent company, was bought by Chrysler, which already offered a strong line of Dodge pick-ups. So it canned Jeep’s competitor versions.
Not an uncommon business practice: buy rival, shut it down. But it’s also a weird move in the car business. There is never the guarantee that if a product becomes unavailable, people will choose yours instead. At least, not in an area like pick-ups, where there are a hell of a lot to choose from.
And if Volkswagen and PSA and plenty of car makers in the US have taught us anything, it’s that competing with yourself isn’t necessarily a bad thing. You can own several brands and give them subtle differences in economies of scale to commonise parts, reduce cost and thus give your rivals a harder time. And which of your models eventually sells? Doesn’t matter: you still get the money.
So the Jeep pick-up truck is back. Or will be, if the photos of this Jeep Wrangler-based truck with a five-foot-long load bed are anything to go by. The pics were leaked ahead of the car’s official unveiling at the LA motor show, and I think it’s a very cool thing.
Would it come here? Dunno. The UK doesn’t buy many Wranglers already and we don’t get Dodge trucks, obviously, because they’re massive and not terribly efficient. But what strikes me is that the creation of it is like when Skoda first launched an SUV: one of those ‘why aren’t we doing this?’ no-brainers. The right car in the right market with the right image, ideal for slinging a couple of bikes and a tent into the back and heading into the wilderness.
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For who?
Right car at the right time for who? And especially in the UK where we don't have the Bubba-drives-a-pickup culture? (I love certain US cars, but not the SUV and pickup culture that's now infected the rest of world...). The Gladiator (seriously?) seems pointless and irrelevant. Please can we consign pickups to Commercial Vehicle Weekly? I thought this mag was call AutoCAR?
Diversity to appeal to all
Diversity to appeal to all motorists, is one of the not so secret secrets that proves the success of this magazine, now over 100 years since introduction, published in many countries around the globe and highly rated within the auto industry.
You expect us to heed your words when you offer up nonsense such as this post?. Have you looked up the various names attached to Mitsu pick-ups and if so, do you similarly disrespect them, despite their success and loyal customers?.
What do you own and drive?.
Blimey - I actually agree
I just wish there wasn't the irrelevant and snide 'what do you drive?' thing on the end.
No, no, no.
That entirely misses the point Matt makes, which is really that pick-ups offer a raw mechanical pleasure nearly impossible to find in a car.
Either you get that, or you travel around happily in a rolling iPhone, dreaming of autonomous EVs.
Jeep L200
I didnt/dont understand why, when FIAT started selling rebadged Mitsubishi L200s, they did so with a FIAT badge rather than a Jeep one? Or offer both, one as a budget and one as a rufty-tufty semi-premium version.
"competing with yourself isn’t necessarily a bad thing"
You should have told the FCA marketing folks before they killed off Lancia and shrunk the other brands' ranges to practically nothing.
And yes, there is space in the market for the Fullback, the Toro, the Ram and the Gladiator.