Jeep is resorting to ever-more-desperate measures in its quest to keep Gladiator sales out of complete free-fall. The midsize pickup hit its sales peak during the height of the pandemic and has been in steep decline ever since, with both inventories and incentives swelling in 2024. Now, according to Automotive News, Jeep has decided to cut production, seemingly leaving the possibility of a second-generation model in limbo.
Starting in January, Stellantis will cut a shift from its Toledo South Assembly Plant, resulting in layoffs of more than 1,000 workers. The local UAW president told AN that adding the hybrid 4xe to the lineup would likely be a boon for interest and sales, but the electrified model has not yet entered production. Union members told The Detroit News that the mounting layoffs have begun to impact morale.
Gladiator sales peaked at 89,712 in 2021, when COVID-related supply chain issues choked off parts availability for America’s top-selling trucks. With inventories depleted, customers who needed to buy a pickup often had no choice but to buy used or seek alternatives. Through the quarter ending in August of 2024, Jeep has moved fewer than 33,000 Gladiators.
Jeep’s off-road-ready, top-optional pickup defies the utilitarian approach most expect from smaller trucks, and with those unique features comes a uniquely premium price tag. The base Gladiator is $5,000 more expensive than the cheapest available Ford Ranger and can be optioned to cost as much as its competitors’ upmarket halo models, such as the Ford Ranger Raptor and GM’s DSSV-enhanced off-road twins, the Chevrolet Colorado ZR2 and GMC Canyon AT4X.
With the 4xe arriving next year, upmarket variants of the Gladiator will get a shot in the arm, but a pricey, electrified variant can’t be expected to attract buyers who simply want something inexpensive and relatively utilitarian. Ford’s compact Maverick pickup—of which it has already sold nearly 110,000 this year—comes in at a base price more than 30% cheaper than the Gladiator’s.
At this rate, will there even be a next-gen Gladiator? Stellantis shut down rumors years ago that it would bring a cheaper, Ram-branded variant of the midsize pickup to market to help shore up volume and spread the costs of the hybrid Jeep-Ram platform that underpins it. The smaller Rampage won’t offer any help with the latter. Perhaps there’s hope for a new Dakota yet?
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