In 2018, the Jeep Wrangler was riding higher than a Rubicon tricked out with TeraFlex suspension, Dana 44 axles, and Mickey Thompson Baja Boss tires.
A whopping 240,032 of the iconic Toledo products were sold in the United States that year.
By 2023, annual sales had fallen more than 35 percent to 155,491.
Domestic sales of the Gladiator — the pickup sibling to the Wrangler — have fallen even more precipitously, dropping more than 38 percent from a high of 89,712 in 2021 to 55,187 in 2023.
“I think it’s a fifty-fifty proposition as to whether the Gladiator will have a 2026 model,” said Ivan Drury, the director of insights for Edmunds Inc.
Sales of Wranglers and Gladiators for the first half of 2024 are down. In June, the last month for which sales figures are available, Jeep sold only 13,134 Wranglers and 3,542 Gladiators. Both numbers are the lowest June sales figures in the last six years.
The Wrangler and the Gladiator are just two of the many models offered by the 14 brands owned by Stellantis, a multinational conglomerate based in the Netherlands.
What’s happening to these two Toledo-built vehicles is emblematic of the litany of troubles Stellantis faces in the American market. All four of the company’s American brands — Chrysler, Dodge, Ram, and Jeep — have seen their sales decline in both the second quarter and first half of the year.
“Stellantis is an interesting mix of brands,” Mr. Drury said. “No lineup is truly a full lineup. They exist in a different space than Ford or GM. They don’t have a product cadence people are truly excited about.”
The chief complaints that would-be Wrangler and Gladiator customers voice are about the high price of both vehicles and the technological bloat that’s crept into them.
Few people rival Jason Davis in his affection for the Jeep brand. Mr. Davis lives in Paulding, Ohio. He’s a member of Teamsters Local 414 and works as a car hauler. He’s also the administrator of a 419-area Facebook group of more than 1,200 Jeep enthusiasts.
But he is frustrated that Jeeps, which used to be basic and affordable, are now priced out of reach for many Americans.
“They took something simple that worked and made it too luxurious,” he said. “They jacked the price up so much that they lost touch with their loyal consumer base and made it hard for people to afford. No one wants to pay $50,000 to $98,000 for something that they take out on the trail. You can’t price the majority of your consumer base out of the ability to afford your vehicles and then be confused about a major slump in sales.”
Brian Ward, a construction equipment service manager from Castalia, Ohio, shares Mr. Davis’ concerns about how expensive Jeeps have become.
“They’ve definitely gone up in price,” he said. “Both of our 2021 Wranglers have less than 19,000 miles on them, so it’s quite possible these may be the last Jeeps we buy. If my wife decides she wants a newer model down the road, we’d consider that, but the price may be a deterrent from buying a new one versus a used one.”
A look at the 1,318 new Wranglers for sale within 100 miles of Toledo shows how the vehicle has evolved from a middle-class daily driver to a luxury product that many Jeep factory workers say they can’t afford.
The least expensive Wrangler offered locally is a two-door Sport model whose manufacturer’s suggested retail price is $33,890. There are only a handful of Wranglers listed at that price. Prices top out at $108,475 for a four-door Wrangler Rubicon 392 Final Edition. Most of the currently available Wranglers have MSRPs between $55,000 and $65,000.
Locally available Gladiator MSRPs are priced from $40,385 to $73,600.
While high prices may give some of Jeep’s traditional customer base second thoughts about purchasing new vehicles, it’s technological bloat that concerns others.
Jeep loyalist Sherry Trees, a nurse who lives in Lima, owns one Jeep she calls a “pavement princess” and now wants to buy a second one for off-road use. But she’s not considering buying a new model because she’s leery about what she’s read about their high-tech systems.
“I think a lot of people are going for older Jeeps,” she said. “Comments on the Jeep sites I’m on say the new ones with computer systems are always having problems. Give me old school, where you don’t need a computer degree to fix it.”
Her concerns are timely and in line with those of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Earlier this month, NHTSA required Jeep to recall approximately 32,863 Jeep Wranglers and Gladiators to fix malfunctioning instrument panel clusters. A short circuit in these dashboard displays may cause them to go blank, potentially distracting drivers.
The recalls affect the 2018 to 2024 Jeep Wrangler and the 2020 to 2024 Jeep Gladiator.
Earlier this year, 139,318 2021 Wrangler 4xe vehicles were recalled to correct defective defroster systems.
NHTSA is currently investigating reports of nine engine compartment fires that occurred in 2021 to 2023 Wranglers and Gladiators. The fires originated on the passenger side of the engine compartment while the ignition was off.
While Jeeps have never enjoyed a robust reputation for reliability, these and other recalls may have caused some prospective buyers to look at another iconic American off-road vehicle, the Ford Bronco. The original Bronco was produced between 1966 and 1977. It came close to replicating the original Jeep ethos of an inexpensive, stripped-down, not-too-big, for-fun vehicle with a youthful vibe.
Ford’s revival of the Bronco in December, 2020, seems to have cut into Jeep’s sales. Both the Bronco and the Wrangler are retro designs that strike a chord with brand enthusiasts. The Bronco sold 108,169 units in 2021, 99,547 in 2022, and an impressive 127,476 in 2023.
“The heart of Jeep, the Wrangler, got way more expensive just as it got its first real competition in a long time,” said Sam Abuelsamid, a transportation and mobility analyst with Guidehouse Insights, a global consulting firm that focuses on the automobile industry.
“Ford launched the Bronco, which took a lot of sales away from Wrangler, while the Land Rover Defender, the new Toyota Land Cruisers, and other entries are chipping away as well. The Wrangler is not as competitive with the Bronco as it should be and the recent mid-cycle update didn’t change much,” Mr. Abuelsamid said.
The Blue Oval has also found success with the Maverick, a small pickup that’s 18 inches shorter than the Gladiator but sells for considerably less. Though the milquetoast Maverick isn’t a direct competitor with the brawny Gladiator, it may be siphoning off some sales to people who simply want a small work truck rather than an off-road beast.
In 2022, its first full year of production, 74,370 Mavericks were sold in the United States. Sales rose sharply to 94,058 in 2023.
Base-model Mavericks start at $23,920, while base model Gladiators start at $39,790.
A General Motors offering, the base Chevrolet Colorado, offers a more refined small pickup experience for $31,395.
“The Gladiator has the problem of being expensive, although Jeep has announced price cuts for model year 2025,” Mr. Abuelsamid said. “It’s neither as good an off-roader as the Wrangler nor as good a midsize pickup as the much fresher competition from Toyota, Nissan, Ford, and GM.”
Jeep customers aren’t the only ones to voice frustration with the company’s pricing policies, its quality control issues, and its failure to keep abreast of the competition.
In a tartly worded letter from Stellantis National Dealer Council Chairman Kevin Farrish to Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares, Mr. Farrish called the current condition of Stellantis a disaster.
“The reckless short-term decision-making to secure record profits in 2023 has had devastating, yet entirely predictable, consequences in the US market,” Mr. Farrish wrote. “Those consequences include the rapid degradation of our iconic American brands — brands like Jeep, Dodge, Ram, and Chrysler that have over a century of history in America.”
The letter went on to highlight the dire situation Mr. Farrish believes the company now faces.
“The market share of your brands has been slashed nearly in half, Stellantis stock price is tumbling, plants are closing, layoffs are rampant, and key executives are fleeing the company. Investor lawsuits, supplier lawsuits, strikes — the fallout is mounting. Your own distribution network has been left in an anemic and diminished state.”
In addition to these woes, Stellantis is now facing the prospect of labor unrest. The United Auto Workers claims that the company has broken the promises it made to the union in a contract that was agreed upon only last year. The union is threatening a strike at American Stellantis plants.
UAW President Shawn Fain said that the union would be “holding strike authorization votes at one or more Stellantis locals. And we will stand united to enforce our contract and save American jobs.”
But amid all the negativity about how Stellantis has managed the Jeep brand, there is a glimmer of good news. According to Andy Bowman, a Stellantis media spokesman who focuses on Jeep, both Wrangler and Gladiator sales were up in August when compared to July’s figures. Gladiator sales rose more than 30 percent, while Wrangler’s rose more than 20 percent.
The 0.5 percent cut in interest rates announced Wednesday by the Federal Reserve may also goose sales.
But it remains to be seen whether this is the start of a much-needed turnaround or just an upward blip in a troubling long-term slide.
“I think Stellantis will turn the ship around,” said Zach Doran, the president of the Ohio Automobile Dealers Association. “The dealers have tenure and tenacity in northwest Ohio. They’ve weathered storms. They’ve had red ink years and black ink years. That’s part of the business. The company understands that this is not an easy thing to fix.”
Mr. Drury is also optimistic, at least where Jeep is concerned.
“The brand has a lot of equity. It won’t just go away. They have American symbolism behind them. It’s iconic and stands for something bigger than the brand itself. Jeep will turn around at some point. It would be hard to permanently damage this brand. The Wrangler is a halo vehicle. They’re not for everybody, but they turn everybody’s head.”
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