I guess a pickup Bronco is a bad idea??

[Rick Astley]

Paging @Rick Astley

I do see a lot of them out and about so clearly some people like them.

Having a 5th, 6th or 7th different thread on essentially the same topic won't change that Gladiator doesn't sell well in any market except for the current commodity constrained one where FCA/Stelantis/Chrysler/Daimler/whoever else has owned them this century hadn't made parts supplier contracts which provide excessive parts surplus.

It's a dead model and has been so since 2019 when there was $5K or more on the hood just to sell the lot-zombies.

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[BigHoof]

Saw this video today... apparently Gladiators aren't selling?!? To be honest, I'm surprised. If I was to buy a Jeep product today it would be a Gladiator.

For those who have been on B6G for a long time, there was some design concepts and rumors floating around regarding a Bronco pick-up thing similar to the Gladiator. The last rumors we heard... it was canceled... and maybe it was a good thing.

Consider the source.

 

[RagnarKon]

Is “not selling” really just “Jeep overestimated the demand”?

I see tons of Gladiators around.

I think I've seen two total, but I also live in Connecticut (not exactly the off-road capital of the world), so I'm not terribly surprised and I don't put much stock into it.

To some degree you could expect demand to drop like this. Gladiator launched in 2020... all of the die hard Jeep buyers who wanted a Gladiator probably recieved theirs in 2020-2021. Now that the super-fans got their vehicles, demand was bound to drop. Honestly... I'm expecting the same to occur with the Bronco after 2023/2024MY (especially with interest rates the way they are).

But demand must of dropped MUCH more than Jeep anticipated. 2023 Gladiator started production in August 2022. So to still have that many 2022 units on the lots 7 months after 2022MY production ended is... uhh... bad. Obviously they overestimated demand but they must have way overestimated demand.

Good news for Gladiator buyers though. Almost makes me want to visit my local Jeep dealer just to take a peek.

Consider the source.

Oh... definitely not a fan of the source. I actually saw this video 3 days ago but ignored it. Luckily for him I was taking a dump on the porcelain throne and got bored.

BUT I did look at that dealers website, and Jeep dealers in my area... and he's not wrong. To my surprise, there is quite a few new 2022 Gladiators out there still.

 

[UM_Ftown]

I think I've seen two total, but I also live in Connecticut (not exactly the off-road capital of the world), so I'm not terribly surprised and I don't put much stock into it.

To some degree you could expect demand to drop like this. Gladiator launched in 2020... all of the die hard Jeep buyers who wanted a Gladiator probably recieved theirs in 2020-2021. Now that the super-fans got their vehicles, demand was bound to drop. Honestly... I'm expecting the same to occur with the Bronco after 2023/2024MY (especially with interest rates the way they are).

But demand must of dropped MUCH more than Jeep anticipated. 2023 Gladiator started production in August 2022. So to still have that many 2022 units on the lots 7 months after 2022MY production ended is... uhh... bad. Obviously they overestimated demand but they must have way overestimated demand.

Good news for Gladiator buyers though. Almost makes me want to visit my local Jeep dealer just to take a peek.


Oh... definitely not a fan of the source. I actually saw this video 3 days ago but ignored it. Luckily for him I was taking a dump on the porcelain throne and got bored.

BUT I did look at that dealers website, and Jeep dealers in my area... and he's not wrong. To my surprise, there is quite a few new 2022 Gladiators out there still.

Most of the JL and JT diesels I was looking at last summer are still for sale on lots. I want to assume it’s the vehicle price point and not price per gallon. It’s hard to say yes to $45k-$65k that have less standard features than a $33k Base Bronco.

 

[Area51BS]

I don’t think it would be a positive for Ford and the Bronco line. It would be some rigged up looking contraption. Already a hint of it with the little triangle for window on rear door order the 4 door. Design flaw there. The Gladiator looks like a garage mod. The old Hummer was the same. Just my opinion.
It would tie up the line and tooling cost with little return. They already have F series and Ranger. Money would be better spent making the Ranger kick ass.

 

[Bugkillah]

I’m all for this, would order and wait 12-18 months for them to build. Base Sasquatch with Mod bumper and Aux switches, please.​

 

[zuke]

The only way a Bronco Pickup makes any sense from a marketing perspective is if Ford creates a 'BRAND' from the bronco to go head to head with Jeep (There were plenty of rumors about makng 'Mustang' a brand, and some rumors of doing it with 'Bronco')

If Bronco was a brand meant to compete with Jeep, Then;

Bronco=Wrangler
Bronco Pickup=Gladiator
Bronco Sport=Cherokee
Bronco Rally=Renegade (Doesn't exist, would need to be created, Take the Ecosport as the basis, Give it AWD with some Fire Road level prowess, done)

If these stay with Ford Badges, all they'll do is cannibilize other ford model offerings like the Ranger, Maverick, and of course, the ecosport. They'd do that some under a 'Bronco' branding as well.

Jeep can sell these other models because of the company's lifestyle image, and Chrysler doesn't have another midsize pickup at the moment either.

To answer the original question, no, a Bronco pickup doesn't make sense in the current situation.

As to the Gladiator, my Wife loves her Sport S, She towed a TJ Wrangler on a trailer ot Windrock Last Year with it (About 6500lb with everything that we loaded on the trailer), and it was no problem, It does decent Offroad, and rides fine on road... I paid $46,000 (Just a tad under MSRP in December 2020) for it, and it does it's job just fine. If the wife wanted a new truck, she'd want another Gladiator, I don't think the Drop in sales reflects anything except that less people are buying lifestyle vehicles right now of any sort.

 

[JT58Bronc]

If it was not for the Bronco, I'd probably have a Gladiator. Mojave. Yes the Gladiator is more expensive. But it would have been so much cheaper for me. But I love the Bronco so very much I end up buying a classic 87 Chevy V10 short box 4 X 4 to restore to be my pick up truck. I need a pick up to load my toys in. So the Bronco Sas set me back like 42K. The V10.......well let's say 35K and climbing.....so ya a Gladiator would have been much cheaper and done everything with one truck. But I have a real cool classic truck......and a Bronco

 

[userdude]

All I know is during that 18mon I was waiting, there were a LOT of Jeep trucks on the resell lots. Which made me wonder why so many were getting rid of them.

 

[dan79]

Sure if you want to drop 51k for a base Rubicon, you can get up to 7,000lbs. But can get a nice Ranger for 27k or an F-150 for 33k and they'll both out tow the Gladiator.

f150 for 33 i cant seem to get one anywhere near that in four wheel drive

 

[Rough Rider]

I wouldn't call it a failure.....sales declined...but as a vehicle ages it should theoretically decline.

 

[Heelabaloo]

I was heading towards purchasing a Gladiator before the Bronco came along. I wanted to get another 4wd pickup, having owned a pre-Taco extra cab 4x4 several years ago. It seems like the Gladiator is a “Jack of all trades, master of none” vehicle. If you’re a hardcore rock crawler dude you’re gonna go with a Wrangler or Bronco and if you need a pickup for work or hauling larger items, there are a lot better options. The IFS on the Bronco makes it a much better daily driver. However, I think a Gladiator would make and excellent overlander. If Ford made an extra cab Bronco truck with a regular bed and increased the towing capacity to 5k, I think it would sell.

 

[555-RGNE]

A ZR2 can do 99% of the things a Gladiator can do off-road while doing 150% of the things it can’t do on road at a cheaper price point.

Let's see a ZR2 with the top off, then.

 

[Westbayou]

I wanted a Gladiator since it was called the AEV Brute. Having owned a pile of Jeeps it was super attractive as a "swiss army knife" type vehicle that offered the best of both worlds in a Jeep and Pickup. Then they hit the lots with HUGE markups, that was the first strike. 2nd strike was test driving it. It may be the worst driving modern vehicle I've ever driven. The steering is vague, it wanders all over the road, and the ride itself is horrific. Bottom line, you'd have to just really, really want a Gladiator to be willing to overlook all of its warts. It was a hard pass for me, especially with that price tag. At the time I bought a loaded up F150 Raptor for the same money.

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