Meet Jeep’s new pickup
Jeep’s highly anticipated pickup was unveiled last Wednesday at the Los Angeles Auto Show, which opened to the public on Nov. 30. The Gladiator will be available only as a four-door crew cab, riding on a Wrangler chassis with a wheelbase lengthened to 19.4 inches to accommodate the five-foot bed.
Though it will be the longest vehicle in Jeep’s line up when it hits showrooms in early 2019, it will retain the Wrangler’s off-road capabilities, including being able to ford 30 inches of water. Which is great when you need to get a load of sheetrock through the woods and across a flooded stream.
The 2020 Gladiator will get its 285 horses and 442 lb.-ft. of torque from a 3.6L V6, with a six-speed manual transmission as standard. (An eight-speed automatic is optional.) With styling similar to the JL Wrangler, the Gladiator will be available in premium soft top or two hard top options.
It will be Jeep’s foray into the midsize pickup market led by Toyota Tacoma, with fierce competition from Nissan Frontier, Honda Ridgeline, Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon, not to mention the new Ford Ranger unveiled at this year’s Detroit Auto Show. The Gladiator will surely present itself as a rival in the rugged offroad pickup market virtually created by the Ford Raptor.
The Gladiator will be assembled alongside the Wrangler in Toledo, Ohio.