Head of Jeep Brand NA is bullish on Gladiator future

[Billkowski]

I think the Maverick Tremor is nice for the price tag and intended purpose. The starting price of a Maverick is $26,395. The starting price of a Gladiator is $38,100. That's a difference of $11,705 dollars. That's the point I'm trying to make. Ram, Jeep, and Dodge don't make a compact truck, meanwhile Ford is banking on the Maverick and outperforming the Gladiator by HUGE numbers.

2022 Maverick (74,370 units sold)
2023 Maverick (94,598 units sold)
2024 Maverick (157,345 units sold)

2022 Gladiator (77,855 units sold)
2023 Gladiator (55,187 units sold)
2024 Gladiator (42,125 units sold)

Agreed, the Maverick fills a need that wasn't being met by anyone else, (mine was a Lariat Tremor with a msrp of 42500). But to me you cant directly compare the 2, the Gladiator was more than worth the difference in price, its so much more vehicle.

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[CPTRVB]

This makes me nervous….. When they say “attract a different buyer” - we’re totally screwed …… It’ll never be the same again.
All that talk is gonna get him ousted….. cuz they ain’t got the $ or the time to put that much energy into anything.


Not Just a Wrangler with a Bed
“Most people think of Gladiator as a Wrangler with a bed. Does it have to be? Are there different evolutionary options for that truck? There absolutely could be, that bring in different views, feeling, maybe a different buyer.”

The new CEO wants to attract a different audience than would typically buy a Wrangler. He wants to be more diverse, bring in fresh ideas, create more of a truck from the start.

Jeep has an amazing history it can tap. “When we’re unapologetically Jeep, we usually win. If you are stuck in the sea of sameness, our company has not done well in that space. We do well when we make Jeeps.”

Building a Better Jeep Pickup
The longer-term plans will take more time and engineering and elbow grease to change the car to get it where it needs to be, he says.

“I definitely think Gladiator has a long-term life with what we can do with that architecture.” He has seen cool ideas of what Gladiator could evolve into from design chief Ralph Gilles and his team. “They’ve done a great job. I’m excited to see how we can bring these to life.

Broderdorf hints that there are concepts in the works. “You will see some stuff we will do in the next year to showcase, to see which ones will get people excited.” But he is not sure if there will actual concepts to show this year.

So he was it to be a Subaru?

This excites me, makes me feel like the platform won't go away in 2028, as well as more options. All we can do is wait and see what happens!

What's Going On With the Jeep Gladiator?

Jeep chief sees potential with a better truck and pricing, but when will see results?

The new head of Jeep North America Bob Broderdorf says prospects for the Gladiator will become brighter and he is close to launching a structured plan. “We have been in the lab working. I am not far.”

“Gladiator has so much opportunity,” Broderdorf tells MotorTrend in interviews. Jeep added some aggressive programs in the final quarter of 2024 to address the pricepoint of the current truck, with more short-term moves to come. And there are creative ideas about how the truck could evolve in the longer term.

The Jeep CEO says he is bullish on the Gladiator which he thinks is a great product—it comes down to execution and pricing to boost sales and keep the Toledo plant humming.

Feel free to send this masterfully crafted letter to Stellantis bossman -

Dear Bob Broderdorf ,
Do not Subaru Baja my Jeep Gladiator. That is all.

Respectfully,
Everyone

P.S. Gibme V8 option and we'll be homies for life.

 

[Gvsukids]

Coming from JKs, you had to know these things do not make the best daily drivers.

Mine was so much a daily driver we had to replace my wife's car to take the miles off of the Jeep. Our Jeep is very quiet with the headliner and the armorlite flooring.

off road pages

It's a nice thing to see at what degree my wife screams.

 

[Alpine Warthog]

P.S. Gibme V8 option and we'll be homies for life.

LMFAO, I am quite literally spitting up my coffee at this. But yes, I 100% back this. Some day I may LS swap mine just to piss off the world!

It's a nice thing to see at what degree my wife screams.

And I spit my coffee out again. Stop this guys!

 

[Wheelin98TJ]

Just don't get the "it's a bad daily driver" take. It's the best daily driver I've ever had, enjoy driving it every single day. Owned a lot of vehicles, all the rest became boring appliances after 3 months, if not sooner.

My daily is an F150. About as boring as they get.

It's lower and easier to get in and out of.
The seats are more comfortable.
It's much quicker.
It's quiter.
It's easier to keep straight.
It gets better MPG.

For a little context, I'm 47 years old and I commute 1 hour each way. When I was in my twenties and drove 10 minutes to work, I loved my TJ as a DD. As I got older and my commute got longer, I found I preferred something more confrotable and boring.

 

[Jeepdoggydog]

With the Dakota coming back, I am skeptical that they will keep the Gladiator unless it becomes something like the "Rampage". Maybe that's the new audience they are going for.

 

[Jrgunn5150]

With the Dakota coming back, I am skeptical that they will keep the Gladiator unless it becomes something like the "Rampage". Maybe that's the new audience they are going for.

Why would you not think they might be siblings?

 

[RamminMopar]

1) Bring back the manual
2) Bulletproof the pentastar
3) some sort of jeep "tradesman" package with

 

[biodiesel]

With the Dakota coming back, I am skeptical that they will keep the Gladiator unless it becomes something like the "Rampage". Maybe that's the new audience they are going for.

The Rampage would be a compact truck which would compete with the Maverick, Ridgeline, and Santa Cruz. The Dokota name would lead me to believe they are going back to a midsized truck, which would compete against the Colorado, Canyon, Ranger, Ranger Raptor, Quartermaster, Tacoma, Frontier.

In my opinion, Ram and Jeep wouldn't be competing with each other in the same way that Ram would compete with Ford, GM, etc. If Jeep stays true to itself (SFA, foldable windshield, removable doors, etc.), then that would give Ram space to compete in the luxury category (nicer interior, quiet cab, more towing capacity, etc.).

 

[Jeepdoggydog]

The Rampage would be a compact truck which would compete with the Maverick, Ridgeline, and Santa Cruz. The Dokota name would lead me to believe they are going back to a midsized truck, which would compete against the Colorado, Canyon, Ranger, Ranger Raptor, Quartermaster, Tacoma, Frontier.

In my opinion, Ram and Jeep wouldn't be competing with each other in the same way that Ram would compete with Ford, GM, etc. If Jeep stays true to itself (SFA, foldable windshield, removable doors, etc.), then that would give Ram space to compete in the luxury category (nicer interior, quiet cab, more towing capacity, etc.).

Isn't the Gladiator considered a "midsized truck" ? As the market stands today By keeping the Wrangler and deleting the Gladiator they would stay true to Jeep without competing between brands if Jeep and Ram stay under the same Company.

 

[Bonanza]

It took you that long to figure out you didn´t like a Jeep as a daily driver? LOL. Sounds like you don´t like the JT much at all.

I do agree that they were (and maybe still are?) overpriced. That´s why I bought a gently used one when the values started to decline.

I took me that long to afford to have a $40k+mod$ plus enough for a dedicated DD. Now that I've paid off my law school loans and have a salary commensurate with my experience and station, I don't have to settle for having the gladiator be a DD.

Rivian and Scout have my attention now. I have a lot of good memories in my gladiator, including having picnics in the bed with my little ones, but of the 4 cars I have, I reach for the gladiator keys last to get from A to B. (Well, the Corvette actually is last because I'm still putting the transmission back in.) Point being, the Gladiator is fantastic on the trail. No complaints. But 99% of its use life isn't on a trail, and its weaknesses are quite apparent.

Another qualifier- lifted, on 37s is a purposeful negative impact on DD'ing duty. It's like complaining about a GT3 not being a great DD either. But having had a 2025 Jeep wrangler as a rental recently, it felt about equally abysmal to drive around town. 21mpg though.

 

[BourbonRunner]

The Rampage would be a compact truck which would compete with the Maverick, Ridgeline, and Santa Cruz. The Dokota name would lead me to believe they are going back to a midsized truck, which would compete against the Colorado, Canyon, Ranger, Ranger Raptor, Quartermaster, Tacoma, Frontier.

I think you and I have been calling for the Rampage to come here ever since it debuted. It would be a Maverick killer. Having Ram aesthetics in a smaller, efficient package is a slam dunk- the Rams are among the best looking trucks on the road and would beat the Maverick hands down on that alone. The Maverick looks like a truck and a jelly bean had a kid, but the mother squeezed when the doctor said not to.

In my opinion, Ram and Jeep wouldn't be competing with each other in the same way that Ram would compete with Ford, GM, etc. If Jeep stays true to itself (SFA, foldable windshield, removable doors, etc.), then that would give Ram space to compete in the luxury category (nicer interior, quiet cab, more towing capacity, etc.).

True. But I still think there's room for the Overland as the luxury trim on the JT as well as a modern, luxurious Dakota. Some people want removable doors/roof but prefer the nicer stuff. No reason to ignore them, especially considering the margins are so good on luxo-barges. To differentiate it, a SkyTouch roof exclusive to the trim would be solid.

Ultimately Ram having a mid-size may take a few customers from the JT but likely not as many as we may speculate. And If Ram can manage to do a basic, stripped model for fleets/trades they'll beat all of the competition.

 

[Oilburner]

Why would you not think they might be siblings?

Same reason the Commanche & the Dakota could not coexist. Dividing an already small market.

 

[biodiesel]

Isn't the Gladiator considered a "midsized truck" ?

Yes, the Gladiator is a midsized truck. It competes with the Colorado, Canyon, Ranger, Ranger Raptor, Quartermaster, Tacoma, and Frontier. If Ram also released a midsized truck, let's call it the Dakota, then I don't see it competing with the Gladiator.

Yes, some of us diehard Mopar guys/girls might be in turmoil over which brand to purchase (Gladiator or Dakota), but the two auto manufacturers wouldn't directly compete against each other since one is utilitarian and the other would be refined.

 

[BourbonRunner]

Same reason the Commanche & the Dakota could not coexist. Dividing an already small market.

That's not the reason for the Comanche getting 86'ed. Chrysler inherited the quasi-unibody MJ platform from AMC but wanted Jeep to be SUVs only and Dodge to be trucks so the Comanche got scalped.

Beyond that, the Comanche was smaller than the Dakota, in line with the S10s, Rangers, Toyotas, etc. I can't remember for certain but I think at one point the early Comanche used the same GM motors as the S10.

But Dakota was a true mid size body on frame truck slotted right between the small and full size trucks. If anything it's only true competition as far as size was the early T100/Tundra until those got bigger and became full size.

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