Now’s the time to get a Jeep pickup if you want 4×4, removable doors, a convertible roof, and more for the price of an Accord.
You might expect the Jeep Gladiator to be a hot seller, but alas, no. This year has been particularly tough for the pickup with a removable roof as total sales so far are down 29% compared to 2022, the largest drop in the midsize segment. Nobody who counts on the Gladiator to make a living wants that, so the manufacturer and dealers are collaborating to take as much as $20,000 off some trucks.
The steep discounts were first spotted by Cars Direct, which pointed out that they’re a combination of OEM and retailer offers. Jeep is taking 10% off Gladiators across the country through Oct. 2, and Gladiator Sports for sale in California enjoy an even bigger price cut at 15% off the top. This should put dealers in a prime position to move more units.
West Covina CDJR is using these manufacturer rebates as a springboard and marking down its fleet of Gladiators even more. There are 15 Jeep pickups for sale there with MSRPs between $52,000 and $53,000, but the discounts range from $16,483 to $20,159. That means you can get a brand-spankin’ new Gladiator with the three-piece hard top, eight-speed automatic, max tow package, and more for $32,346. Yes, really.
West Covina CDJR
Surely, that will be enough. Right? It can’t hurt as Jeep sold just 13,751 Gladiators in the second quarter of 2023, a 34% drop compared to the same stretch last year. That allowed the Honda Ridgeline to leapfrog the rugged off-roader with 14,512 Q2 sales, marking a positive 36.8% spike. Neither comes close to the Toyota Tacoma, which amassed 63,262 deliveries in the second quarter alone—year-to-date numbers are even more impressive for the Taco at 116,845 through August.
It’s not easy to explain the lack of demand for Gladiators. They’re all crew cabs, which is what people want; they’re all four-wheel drive, which is also what people want; and they’re the only truck in the segment with easily removable doors and a convertible roof. There’s just something about them that doesn’t translate the way you’d anticipate for what’s essentially a Wrangler with a pickup bed.
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