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Jeep Gladiator sales moves into 4th place among midsize trucks

Rocksalt

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Get them up to freeway speeds and rough roads and it's night and day - the Tacoma is far more stable at speed. Totally agree on the AT though... they under-geared the truck and as a result it doesn't hold 5th or 6th well.
Well I test drove both at hwy speeds.. my JT tracked and still tracks straight.. one hand driving. Again, I didnt notice much difference, except for how the solid axle vs IFS handles some bumps
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Etoimos

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The only change I see in the top 4 spots is a swap between Chevy and Ford. The Taco is going to stay on top. They have the TRD models that will satisfy 85%-90% of the off road buys out there (very few of us do any real crawling) and they have "normal" models to meet every day truck buyers needs. The cherry on top for Toyota is that those everyday trucks get to ride on the coat tails of the more capable TRD models.

The Ranger will surpass Colorado after a year or so. The Chevy just does not compete on finish. Heck, the interior finish is why I'm not driving a Colorado ZR2 right now.

The reason you don't seem to see as many Rangers in the wild, is that they just blend in with everything else on the road.
 

jthadius

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The live axle is what defines a Wrangler now that the JLU is basically the size of a freakin' 4Runner. If they lose that, they lose it's monopoly in the segment and it has to start competing with the 4Runner and the upcoming Bronco.

The Gladiator is not a monopoly and it's competing against other mid-size pickups. The fact is that the live axle is detrimental to its use as a daily driver and the inherent characteristics are why everyone else abandoned it. I'd never pick a Gladiator over a Tacoma for something meant to be driven everyday on the street - the Tacoma and Ranger just ride and handle so much better. Where the Gladiator shines, and why I'll be selling my Taco, is that it does what Jeep has traditionally done better - play in the dirt.

Jeep retained the live axle because they wanted an off-road capable pickup and that's the best way to do it. In doing so, they sacrificed a lot of what the market wants and will never catch the Tacoma who did the opposite. The comment above is right - if FCA wanted a competitor, they would have built something similar to the rest of the market. They didn't though and thankfully stayed true to the Jeep legacy.
As a former Tacoma owner, the Tacoma is by no means better on the road than a Gladiator. It is better on fire roads and fast dirt sections, but that's the only place its better. Frankly, Tacoma's are right at the border of being unsafe on the road, especially in wet conditions.
 

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The reason you don't seem to see as many Rangers in the wild, is that they just blend in with everything else on the road.
100% you need to look for them. Something I noticed recently. and since then I have seen a lot more of them.
 

bgenlvtex

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One thing these numbers never address, which artificially inflate Ford and GM numbers is fleet and municipal sales.

While those are "sales" they don't necessarily reflect retail consumer interest.
 

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JT_UT-PunknOrange

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I believe that the gladiator will lead in sales if they can get the price down. 60k for a loaded midsize truck is crazy.
 

Swatstar10

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Let’s face it.....the Nissan Frontier nearly outsold the Gladiator. That is a problem. Jeep may be forced to do some large discounts like GM and Ford do on the full-size pickups.
 
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I don’t know why everyone is so excited, 4th is basically last. Beating the Nissan and the GMC is hardly room for celebration. It only sold 60% of what the Ranger did, and the Ranger is horrible looking. Long road ahead. Or short I guess.

“If you ain’t first, you’re last” Ricky Bobby
 

Pleease.

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It's kind of amazing that Toyota still sells in such volume, considering that it's been an eternity since a real re-design.
 

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Pleease.

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I don’t know why everyone is so excited, 4th is basically last. Beating the Nissan and the GMC is hardly room for celebration. It only sold 60% of what the Ranger did, and the Ranger is horrible looking. Long road ahead. Or short I guess.

“If you ain’t first, you’re last” Ricky Bobby
The Nissan is an ancient beast that never reviews well, and the GMC # should be combined with the Chevy - same thing.

Thinking of replacing my 2007 Ridgeline - still runs great; just need a refresh. Traded in our 2011 JGC Overland in January (wife & I both loved it; we like Jeep) - but have seen a few Gladiators on the road, and....not a real good-looking machine. Kinda resembles a Model T; I guess it's those fenders + old-school looking bed. I want to like it, but don't yet. And I'd refuse to pay 50k for a midsize truck anyway, so guess it's moot.
 

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I went from an 18jlur 6mt to a JTUR Thought jeep thing was a joke until the JL and the JT is just a different animal. Its agressive and has looks so good. Will do whatever you want and that 8 speed tranny is amazing.
I have a lot of respect for Toyota but it would take a lot of money for it to appear more than a conservative camry pickup with 4wd.
How many times have you said ohh thats sick looking at a trd tacoma‍♂
 

HorneyBadger

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I can see the Gladiator taking over the Ranger but I just don't see it taking over Tacoma and Colorado. Toyota Tacoma is known for it's reliability and currently holds the best resale value in its class. They will be #1 for awhile. The Colorado is gaining popularity and with it's very attractive price point. Plus they're upping the ZR2 Bison production so I can see their numbers only going up. Not sure what makes the Ranger #3 to me it's "meh" but yeah they got the loyal brand followings. The Gladiator imo is still considered a niche so the market is smaller and the priciest of all. As a Gladiator owner, it's The #1 in my books.

What no one talks about is the crappy transmission in the gen 3 Tacoma. I traded mine in for the JT. Toyota states no issues but... when you go to pass and the trans goes to neutral you have a jesus moment. Sold my 08 JK because I needed a a truck. Been running Tacomas with the last being a 16 TRD Sport. Loved the truck ...hated the trans. The JT rides better, has better gas mileage and the top and doors come off! ;}~
 

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Let’s face it.....the Nissan Frontier nearly outsold the Gladiator. That is a problem. Jeep may be forced to do some large discounts like GM and Ford do on the full-size pickups.
While I do not discount FCA's wet dream is to be sales leader with the Gladiator, they know and temper their expectations that it will never be anywhere near it. Nor are they competing in the same economic space that the Frontier is selling in price wise.

FCA will never discount or rebate anything below what the Wrangler JL incentives would be to move Gladiators.
 

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While I do not discount FCA's wet dream is to be sales leader with the Gladiator, they know and temper their expectations that it will never be anywhere near it. Nor are they competing in the same economic space that the Frontier is selling in price wise.

FCA will never discount or rebate anything below what the Wrangler JL incentives would be to move Gladiators.
They have capacity for 100k JT's per year - which means the best they'll ever do is 3rd (unless one of the others tanks in sales). Sure, they can probably swap some capacity from the Wrangler, but even if they didn't make any JL's at all, they only have capacity for 300k JL's + JT's in Toledo. So the only way they could even make enough to pass Toyota would be to stop making the JL altogether and just make Gladiators. Or build another plant. But neither of those will happen any time soon - expect max of 100k/year or around 25k per quarter once production is fully ramped. I'm sure they'll sell all of those one way or another, but unless JL demand drops (they sold 240k last year), they won't make more than that. They'll just start raising prices.
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