jeepin.jason

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, or just don’t spend much time on the internet, you’ve probably already heard the news rumors that DCX has canned the Gladiator. According to an article on WardsAuto.com, which has yet to be confirmed by any other source as far as I can tell, DCX execs have put the kibosh on plans to produce the concept truck. Despite being wildly popular with the general public, and Jeep fans in particular, Chrysler COO Eric Ridenour was quoted as saying that the Gladiator “wasn’t profitable,” and that “We have Dakota.”

Right… Having the Dodge Durango and Caliber didn’t stop DCX from building the 7-seat Hemi-powered Jeep Commander, or the Caliber-based mall-cruising Jeep Compass. So why not build the Jeep Gladiator truck?  In all likely-hood the Gladiator would appeal to different customers than the Dakota does anyway, and it might actually give DCX a truck to compete against the Toyota Tacoma.  By basing it off the new JK platform they could cut production and development costs of the truck and probably increase the overall profitability of the JK platform.  DCX is really missing the boat on this one.