{"id":23144,"date":"2018-12-03T22:48:38","date_gmt":"2018-12-04T02:48:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/henrypayne.com\/?p=23144"},"modified":"2018-12-03T22:48:38","modified_gmt":"2018-12-04T02:48:38","slug":"jeep-gladiator-pickup-elbows-into-the-truck-wars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/2018\/12\/jeep-gladiator-pickup-elbows-into-the-truck-wars","title":{"rendered":"Jeep Gladiator pickup elbows into the truck wars"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"The<\/p>\n

Los Angeles<\/em>\u00a0\u2014 Jeep unveiled its rock-crawling\u00a0Gladiator pickup here Wednesday at the Los Angeles\u00a0Auto Show, sending another serious contender\u00a0to\u00a0the midsize pickup wars.<\/p>\n

Packing all the off-road weaponry\u00a0of its iconic Wrangler sibling, the\u00a0steel-frame 2020 Gladiator\u00a0goes on sale in the second quarter of 2019, following closely the Ford Ranger\u00a0midsize truck expected early in 2019<\/a>. It\u00a0re-enters one of the fastest-growing and most lucrative vehicle segments in the U.S.<\/p>\n

But the Gladiator is much more than a Wrangler with a bed.<\/p>\n

The frame has been beefed up and the vehicle’s length extended to 212 inches long to accommodate a 60-inch bed. The result is a truck that Jeep says beats the Ford with\u00a0best-in-class towing and payload \u2014\u00a07,650 and 1,600 pounds, respectively.<\/p>\n

“They were key metrics for the why-buys,”\u00a0said Jeep boss Tim Kuniskis, who established the Hellcat as a\u00a0performance beast in his previous Fiat Chrysler\u00a0job as Dodge commander. “The people we talked to who are owners in this segment were very clear they wanted a real truck with serious hardware that would do what they wanted to do. They didn\u2019t want some styling statement with a bed on the back.”<\/p>\n

Indeed, Jeep once sold such a truck:\u00a0the Scrambler, which was a version of the Wrangler with a bed attached. Kuniskis and his team were adamant that a midsize Jeep truck get the Gladiator name \u2014 a throwback to Jeep’s serious 1960s truck \u2014 in order to separate it from Wrangler.<\/p>\n

“It was important that we called it a Gladiator so it\u00a0competes in its own segment,” continued Kuniskis. “Customers are looking for real trucks. They’re looking for serious hardware.”<\/p>\n

That serious hardware includes a 3.0-liter Ecodiesel engine with a stump-pulling 442 pound-feet of torque. Though, says Kuniskis, it’s the base 3.6-liter V-6 that puts up the\u00a0best-in-class tow\u00a0number.<\/p>\n

The big bed has the ability to carry an ATV or two dirt bikes. An available Rubicon option comes with front\/rear locking differentials, disconnecting\u00a0front sway bar, Fox shocks, 33-inch tires, vented hood, and removable doors and roof to get close to the outdoors.<\/div>\n

The Gladiator and Ranger will round out a Detroit Three battle in the midsize pickup truck market, which GM\u00a0has occupied\u00a0with its Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon for the past four years. With the segment up 14 percent this year and roaring toward a\u00a0500,000 sales volume, Jeep sees an\u00a0opportunity to expand its brand.<\/p>\n

“The segment is growing\u00a0because SUVs are so hot \u2013 and they are enabling a lifestyle,” said Kuniskis.\u00a0“Jeep is (already) playing in SUV segments with 4 million in volume. (Gladiator)\u00a0brings another half-million segment on top of that with 14 percent growth.”<\/p>\n

Toyota’s Tacoma is the midsize pickup leader with nearly 52 percent market share through mid-November, compared to GM’s nearly 32 percent of the market, according to data provided by GM.<\/p>\n

But as with Jeep in the midsize SUV market, the new Gladiator stands to carve out a niche of its own in the midsize truck segment.<\/p>\n

“The Gladiator might not be on an island like Wrangler is, but it’s going to stand out,” said Jeff Schuster, president of global vehicle forecasting for LMC Automotive. “This is going to appeal to the Jeep enthusiast as well as wealthy buyers looking to buy a toy for their garage.”<\/p>\n

Schuster added that the Gladiator debut might make the Ranger launch a bit bumpy, as the Gladiator appeals more to off-roading with its Wrangler bloodline than Ranger will.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

GM officials\u00a0weren’t fazed by the new competition.<\/p>\n

“Frankly, we are mystified that it has taken competitors so long to follow GM\u2019s lead,” GM spokesman Jim Cain said Wednesday. “The Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon helped our company sell more pickups than any other competitor for four consecutive years through 2017, and we\u2019re ahead of the pack this year, too.\u00a0 At least Jeep is trying something new.\u00a0Ford\u2019s Ranger has been running around Asia since 2011, so they\u2019re more than a little late to the party.”<\/p>\n

The Gladiator will come in four trims: Sport, Sport S, Overland and Rubicon.<\/p>\n

The four-door truck has a slew of Wrangler\u00a0design cues, including the seven-slot grille and the boxy four-door cab with removable doors. Its interior will share the all-new Wrangler’s improved comfort with rear-seat H-Vac and improved door storage. A\u00a07- or 8.4-inch touchscreen infotainment system is available (a 5-inch touchscreen comes standard on the Sport trim).\u00a0Apple CarPlay and Android\u00a0Auto connectivity are standard.<\/p>\n

The Gladiator will one-up the Wrangler with an exclusive off-road feature that will make the Jeep faithful salivate. To enable high speed driving off-road, the Rubicon can reconfigure its locking differentials with the flip of switch\u00a0to enable an easy transition from rock-climbing to high-speed dune-running.<\/p>\n

The truck will launch with one engine option, a\u00a03.6-liter Pentastar V-6\u00a0delivering\u00a0285 horsepower and 260 foot-pounds\u00a0of torque. The automaker will offer a\u00a03.0-liter EcoDiesel V-6 engine in 2020. The engines will be mated to a standard six-speed manual transmission. An\u00a0eight-speed automatic is optional.<\/p>\n

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