The long-anticipated Jeep Wrangler pickup is inching closer to reality.
An automotive spy photographer recently captured a series of images that show Fiat Chrysler Automobiles testing a four-door Wrangler truck both on and off the pavement.
The vehicle is heavily camouflaged, but it looks significantly longer than the current four-door Wrangler Unlimited. Though the bed doesn’t appear to be a final version — it looks like Fiat Chrysler has bolted on a Ram bed for testing — the photos suggest the Jeep truck’s bed could be longer than some had anticipated. It also appears to have a more sharply raked windshield, which would make for better aerodynamics and better fuel economy than the current Wrangler.
The truck is expected to go into production in late 2018 at Fiat Chrysler’s Toledo Assembly Complex.
Jeep hasn't built a pickup truck since officials discontinued the Cherokee-based Comanche in 1992, though the company has been flirting with the idea of a Wrangler-based truck for more than a decade. Jeep built a concept vehicle called a Gladiator in 2005 and brand president Mike Manley has made no secret of his interest in the idea. However, it wasn’t until earlier this year that Fiat Chrysler Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne finally confirmed that the company had given the project a green light.
Analysts don’t see a Wrangler-based truck being a huge seller, but they do see a market for it.
“There are nice opportunities there to work with the Jeep brand and give them a product that may be able to give them some incremental volume,” IHS Automotive analyst Stephanie Brinley said. “With some greater interest in pickup trucks that size, there may be people looking for it. Certainly any time they’ve shown a Jeep concept truck, it’s gotten a lot of attention.”
Though the midsize truck segment has rebounded in recent years, it is nowhere near as large as the full-size truck segment. Last year, General Motors, Nissan, and Toyota sold a combined 357,000 midsize trucks.
Various industry forecasters have told The Blade they believe a realistic sales target for a Wrangler-based truck is between 35,000 and 40,000 units annually. Ms. Brinley said Wednesday she expects sales of between 36,000 and 38,000 in the United States with another 12,000 being sold elsewhere.
She expects the vehicle to be a bit smaller than the General Motors’ Chevy Colorado and GMC Canyon siblings and have all the off-road chops of a normal Wrangler.
Fiat Chrysler announced plans last week for a $700 million investment in the Toledo Assembly Complex to prepare the plant for the next generation Wrangler, which will debut next year. The vehicle may not hit showrooms in 2017. Company officials have promised a big increase in fuel economy without giving up capability.
The company is moving Jeep Cherokee production out of Toledo in order to make room for the new Wrangler, with the expectation being that the existing Wrangler plant would be reworked to build Jeep pickups.
Fiat Chrysler said last week that an announcement about the future of that plant would come later.
Contact Tyrel Linkhorn at tlinkhorn@theblade.com or 419-724-6134.
First Published July 21, 2016, 4:00 a.m.
