Rumors of a Jeep pickup have been
circulating for years, but both Mike Manley (Jeep's global chief) and Sergio Marchionne (Fiat Chrysler's CEO) have now
confirmed to The Detroit News that a Wrangler-based pickup will be introduced late in 2017. This has set the
enthusiast press on fire.
To make room for the new pickup to be built alongside the Wrangler at the Toledo, Ohio factory, production of the Cherokee will be moved to another facility (likely the Belvidere Assembly Plant where its platform-mate Dodge Dart is assembled). This likely means that the pickup will share the majority of its components with the Wrangler, which is a very good thing. From
Quadratec's announcement:
Marchionne added that the pickup should launch late-2017 after the
next generation Wrangler rolls out which, he said, is 'phenomenal'.
“The car [Wrangler] is done, the car [Wrangler] is designed and it’s been engineered, so we
just need to get off our butts to start producing,” he said. "It's the
best thing we've ever made. The design won’t see a drastic change, in
order to keep the SUV [Wrangler] true to its historical DNA and instantly
recognizable."
“It’s a phenomenal vehicle. It cures all the ills, whatever few ills
the old Wrangler had. And I think we’ve updated design without
hurting its history which is really, really important to us.”
With the incredible sales and profitability of the JK Wrangler, both Manley and Marchionne have the winning formula and want to continue offering what buyers clearly want - an unabashedly off-road-oriented platform that is proudly the opposite of the ever-more-street-oriented influx of emmasculated
pickups and
SUVs.
If the new Jeep pickup (not to mention the Wrangler) is equipped with a proper pair of solid axles, I am certain that many pickup owners will be trading in their IFS Toyota Tacomas, Nissan Frontiers, Chevrolet Colorados, and GMC Canyons for a new Jeep pickup truck - especially if
rumors of a diesel engine prove to be true. I will gladly trade-in my JK Rubicon for a Jeep pickup; I'll order mine with 4 doors, the heaviest-duty axles, the lowest available gearing, diff locks, a disconnecting sway bar, 4:1 transfer case gears, and of course the EcoDiesel!