More than a ute … and more than a Wrangler with a tray on the back.

ANTICIPATION of the new Gladiator pulling Jeep out of a sales boghole has been expressed by the distributor. 

Ateco Group New Zealand says the $89,990 Overland and more rugged $92,990 Rubicon editions landing in August have raised plenty of excitement among Jeep supporters.

All the same, optimism for what is effectively a Wrangler with a tray and extra length only seems to go so far, all the same.

There’s no talk of it having ability to blow the doors off from marketing manager Sarah Williams. What percentage of overall Jeep sales it might achieve, might it become the best-selling member of the Wrangler family … sorry, not going there?

There is concession that her reluctance comes back to this being a model taking this brand into a previously unexplored territory.

“It’s quite hard to lock that in … yes, we’re expecting it to be very popular based on the high level of requests we’ve had for information.” 

As for its status within Wrangler-dom; could it be king? Maybe yes, perhaps no.

“I think it would be appealing to those who are looking at Wrangler and want to pack their mountain bikes in the back … but it might yet be that some buyers might want a Wrangler AND a Gladiator.” 

One firm factor affecting Ateco’s thinking is an insistence that just because it looks like a ute doesn’t mean it has to be considered one. 

Well, logically it struggles to fit the billing as America’s answer to the traditional one-tonners that have dominated new vehicle sales, on several counts.

For one, Gladiator’s deck is rated for lighter loads. And until a heavy duty towing set-up offered in America is signed off for export, it won’t get access to the 3.5 tonne club, with both models rated for just 2721kg braked. Another factor against is that it bucks the trend for diesel, delivering instead only with the long-lived 3.6-litre Pentastar V6 petrol.

Aside from all that, there’s the envisaged role. In Jeep’s eyes, this is much more of “a lifestyle pick up truck” than your Ranger, Hilux, Colorado and Triton. Mainly on grounds of it having the goods to prove itself tougher in the environment in which the brand sees itself as being an especially adept conquerer. The rough. 

The ‘truck’ parlance isn’t just American slang: Underpinning this model is a heavily re-engineered chassis including multi-link suspension geometry borrowed from the RAM 1500.

“Globally we agree it is a lifestyle vehicle … one that epitomises the brand pillars while allowing people to go out and do more things, I guess. 

That ability to reach and survive in truly wild spots is a Jeep 101 exploited by the Gladiator not only being brawnier in design but also look, with ability to be stripped down into an open-top, doorless four-wheel drive.

The machismo is particularly pushed in Rubicon format that achieves its premium over the Overland by being stacked with steroidal extras - a far more capable drivetrain and tyres, adding Rock-Trac (over the standard Command-Trac), full-time 4×4, Dana 44 axles, bigger all-terrain tyres, front and rear diff lock, a 77.2:1 crawl ratio and an electronic sway bar disconnect among other tweaks.

She bases that thought on what has happened with the Wrangler Unlimited, which also has a four-door cabin but puts a closed compartment behind the back seats, in the year since it came on sale.

“The Rubicon always goes pretty well (for us), being top of the line and having such a massive four-wheel-drive ability. Overland has a more refined approach … it’s a super-comfortable drive.”

In any event, the ‘not-a-ute’ proposal means thinking, as expressed by some commentators, that Jeep has purpose-priced to meet as the flagship Raptor version of the country’s best-selling traydecks, the Ford Ranger, is simply wrong. Indeed, no top-level trad utes were barometers in this exercise.

“There definitely has been some speculation about the Ranger Raptor being used, but that didn’t happen. We are definitely pushing this as one-of-a-kind.”

“It (the pricing exercise) was more based on what we were looking at across the range and where we saw opportunities; and we did look at what Gladiator would add over and above Wrangler.” (So why there’s just $5000 between the Gladiator and Unlimited in Rubicon format and $10k between the Overlands is not made clear).

Gladiator will be welcomed and not just because Jeep’s last new model rollout was the Wrangler, which came into showrooms in 2018. The brand seems to have lost traction in recent years, with declining sales.

Last year Jeep achieved just 885 registrations and this year’s performance hasn’t lifted, with 290 vehicles sold – 70 fewer than in the same period of 2019.

Brand activity has been carried by the Grand Cherokee, an impressive feat given it is the oldest model Jeep has. The current edition is the fourth generation, which was released in 2011, and has received modest updates through its lifespan in an effort to keep it looking relevant against more modern fare. 

Gladiator has every potential to “add registrations that we wouldn’t have had before.”

Jeep will have more product news this year, and conceivably the next headline-maker is the facelifted Compass (above) as updates to that model just been announced for Australia, which historically by and large makes the same product choices as NZ. However, Williams says she cannot confirm or deny, though she is firm that Compass has a future here. (So, will we see the new evocatively-named Night Eagle special edition and S-Limited models, in Limited and Trailhawk variants, still maintaining the current car’s styling and 2.4-litre petrol?)

The V6 in both Gladiator models produces 209kW of power and 347Nm of torque through a ZF eight-speed automatic transmission.

Equipment available includes leather seats, 8.4-inch infotainment system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, the latest USB-C charging and connectivity ports, keyless entry and push to start ignition, forward-facing camera and reversing camera, removable doors and roof, folding windshield, wireless and waterproof Bluetooth speaker, plenty of rail and storage options in the tray, alloy wheels, heated seats and steering wheel, dual-zone climate control, electric adjustment on the front pews and a big safety kit including AEB, blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-path detection, front and side airbags, electronic roll mitigation, adaptive cruise control and speed limiter.

The Rubicon uses Tru-Lok front & rear locking differentials, front sway-bar disconnect, Fox aluminum-bodied 2-inch diameter shocks front and rear, forward-facing TrailCam for off-roading, selectable tyre-fill alert and 17-inch alloys with 32-inch 255/75 R17 BFGoodrich tyres.

Options on both include a heavy duty electrical group for $1000, a cargo management setup with ‘trai lrail’ system for $2000, a roll-up tonneau and spray-in bedliner (both $1000) and a wireless Bluetooth speaker for $1000. Rubicon-specific extras include leather-trimmed bucket seats for $2500, with heating adding $500, a steel front bumper for $1500 and 17x7.5 Polished Black Aluminium Wheels for $1000.