Jeep Gladiator sales are in trouble. And it’s scaring buyers away. It all comes down to a comedy of errors that engulfed the company after Fiat Chrysler merged with PSA Group in 2021 to create new parent company Stellantis.

The year 2018 saw the highly anticipated launch of the Jeep Gladiator, the brand’s first Fiat Chrysler pickup model in almost 25 years. Initially, it appeared as though it may live up to the hype.

Jeep’s U.S. sales have been falling for five straight years. In the first half of 2024, U.S. sales had dropped 9%, and in the second quarter, the decline accelerated to 19%. In June 2024, Jeep sold only 13,134 Wranglers and 3,542 Gladiators, the lowest June sales in six years.

So where did the rot begin?

Despite production problems brought on by the pandemic, sales of the product increased in 2020 after it was introduced in 2019, hitting around 90,000 in the U.S. and making it one of the few winners in that difficult year.

Focusing of higher-priced, higher-margin vehicles was one cause

So where did the rot begin? The company started to focus on higher-priced, higher-margin vehicles, channeling limited supplies of computer chips to build the pricier versions of its vehicles. That left many traditional Jeep and other Fiat Chrysler buyers looking elsewhere. Put simply the Gladiator has basically priced itself out of the market.

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A quick checkup of Jeep’s site reveals only a few Gladiators with a price tag under $40,000. Sticker prices for some Gladiators on dealer lots now reach $72,000. Previously loyal customers and Jeep fans, unable to fork out the unusually high prices, have switched to other pickup brands.

As a result, Gladiator sales have been declining steadily since the 2020 high and have already dropped 21% this year. Overall, Jeep has declined 36% from pre-pandemic sales, making it a shadow of its former self. By raising prices and mishandling its lineup, Stellantis watered down the customer base.

Stellantis issues not confined to Jeep

The parent company’s issues are not just confined to Jeep or Gladiator. The Ram truck brand has found it difficult to compete with General Motors and Ford’s strong truck offerings. Dodge has also weeded out some of its more popular models as it readies for electric variants like the Wagoneer S. One of the so-called Big 3 — Chrysler, is also but a shadow of its former self, and is now effectively down to one model: the Pacifica minivan, which cannot compete with pickup trucks.

To cope with this state of affairs, Stellantis recently said it would lay off over 1,100 employees at its Toledo Assembly Complex South plant, which manufactures the Gladiator, by eliminating one of two shifts.

This impending doom has been a long time coming say plant workers. Kevin Farris, the head of Stellantis’ dealer organisation, sent CEO Carlos Tavares an open letter three months ago. The letter said, “We are writing this letter on behalf of the entire US dealer network and its employees.” “The intent is to sound the alarm, an alarm not only to you, but to the Stellantis board of directors, your employees, your investors, and suppliers.

According to the letter, the Stellantis National Dealer Council had been making secret pleas to the company for the past two years. For everyone engaged, not just the dealers, the company was on the verge of collapse. The letter stated, “Now, that disaster has arrived.” Even though Stellantis’ management took exception to Farris’s letter, purporting that sales were improving, Carlos Tavares will still be replaced as CEO in 2026.

The bottom line, according to Farris, is that Stellantis needs to get back to its roots and re-explore vehicles like the more affordable Cherokee and Chrysler 300.

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