I wouldn’t say Gladiator isn’t in high demand. It’s more like Wrangler is in higher demand.
Jeep sold 50,000 Gladiators in the first half of this year. That’s not bad for a truck with a high price point that’s only been on the market for two years.
But yeah, Gladiator is built in the old Toledo factory; the plant still has a lot more spare capacity than the Wrangler factory.
Last year for every 10 Wranglers Jeep sold 3.5 Gladiators. This year so far for every 10 Wranglers Jeep is selling 4.5 Gladiators. And Wrangler sales are up 25% over a year ago.
For several months now, the new JT inventory at my selling dealer has remained steady at 6-8 vehicles. They're mostly well-optioned (and thus expensive) Mojaves.
But for two JL Rubicons that came and went rather quickly, though, new Wranglers have been conspicuously absent. The few used JKUs and JLUs that show up usually don't linger too long on the lot, either.
The weekend before last, I went out for a late night coffee and drove around spending some quality time with my Baby (it's OK, the wife doesn't see any of this... like she'd be surprised anyway). Local dealer had about a dozen each of Wranglers and Gladiators. No JL Rubicons, but a pretty equal mix of 4xe's, Sahara Altitudes, Sports, and a regular Sahara. Also, a JT Rubicon, a couple of Mojaves, and a bunch of Overlands (Sport equivalent?). I always find myself reaching out to the door handles on the stock Jeeps. I get a bit of a kick out of how low they are compared to what I've become used to.
2 Wranglers, 6 Gladiators. Those Gladiators look like the same ones that have been there for a while. Originally two or three months ago there were like 12 of them. Now they're down to six, so I guess they are selling. Just not real fast. They go thru their Wrangler inventory pretty fast. They had four 2-Door Willys Wranglers about a month ago and they were all gone in a few days.