Make it make sense. The Jeep Wrangler 4Xe and Grand Cherokee 4Xe are the two best-selling plug-in hybrid vehicles in the U.S. Over 55,000 units of the Wrangler 4Xe were sold in 2024, which made up 37 percent of all Wrangler sales in the U.S. (the numbers were even better in 2023). Jeep also sold 27,590 units of the Grand Cherokee 4Xe last year, which comprised 13 percent of all Grand Cherokee sales. So why, then, is Automotive News reporting that Stellantis has told its suppliers in a Sept. 19 letter that it’s canceling the introduction of a Jeep Gladiator 4Xe?
What this means is that U.S. customers are being deprived of their first plug-in hybrid pickup truck. The Ford F-150 Powerboost and Toyota Tundra offer traditional hybrid powertrains, but no plug, while Ram’s range-extended plug-in hybrid pickup truck has been delayed for years. A Gladiator 4Xe would seemingly not require a big development budget since it would share so many components with the standard Wrangler, so why in the face of so much PHEV success would Stellantis kill it?
Why Stellantis Killed The Gladiator 4Xe
We can think of a few reasons why Stellantis killed the Gladiator 4Xe. The company has a new CEO who is following a previous CEO who bet big on electrification and failed spectacularly in some regards. The government is also ending its federal tax incentive for new EV purchases. Lastly, the Gladiator is the least popular Wrangler model with relatively disappointing sales.
Carlos Tavares was CEO of Stellantis until December 2024. He attempted to usher the automaker and its brands into the age of electrification, and did so by jettisoning V8s in popular products such as the Ram 1500 and Dodge’s muscle cars, replacing them with smaller gas engines and electric options. Two fully electric models were also launched on his watch: the Jeep Wagoneer S and Dodge Charger Daytona.
Unfortunately, Tavares was late to the electrification game, and his efforts coincided with a market correction that hampered enthusiasm for EVs. Minus the very popular Jeep 4Xe PHEVs, his efforts failed, and he resigned.
His replacement, Anthony Filosa, is swinging the pendulum hard back the other way, reintroducing the V-8 to the Ram 1500, killing the brand’s electric truck project, and trimming other EV lineups. It’s not surprising, then, that the Jeep Gladiator 4Xe would fall to the sword under Filosa’s watch.
The federal government’s tax incentive is also ending on September 30. The incentive is worth up to $7,500 when purchasing a new electric vehicle that qualifies. While Jeep’s 4Xe models don’t qualify for the $7,500 credit when purchasing them, they do qualify when you lease instead of buy. Without that carrot, Stellantis may be preparing for sales of its 4Xe models to fall and doesn’t see the logic in launching a third one at the same time.
Jeep Gladiator Sales
- 2019: Launch Year
- 2020: 77,541 units sold
- 2021: 89,712 units sold
- 2022: 77,855 units sold
- 2023: 55,187 units sold
- 2024: 42,125 units sold.
Lastly, the Gladiator is not a hot seller. It was launched in 2019 and saw its best year of sales in 2021 when 98,712 units found homes. Since then, Gladiator sales have fallen each year. Last year, they were less than half of 2021’s peak sales at just 42,125 units sold. Perhaps Stellantis doesn’t see a future for the Gladiator and opted not to invest more money in a plug-in hybrid version.
TopSpeed’s Take
The only thing that bugs us about Stellantis’s decision to axe the Gladiator 4Xe is that the automaker’s line of plug-in hybrid models is the only electrification effort that’s worked for it. Plus, while the market has a slew of plug-in hybrid SUV options, Jeep would have been the first to sell a plug-in hybrid pickup truck. We understand the varied and numerous reasons why Stellantis made this choice, but some of them seem motivated by a desire to cast off electrification as quickly as possible in order to retake the crown of combustion.
Jeep struck a solid vein of sales when it introduced the Wrangler 4Xe and Grand Cherokee 4Xe, and a plug-in hybrid Gladiator 4Xe may have actually rejuvenated sales of the truck. Alas, we’ll never know. But hey, at least the Gladiator will be around long enough to get a 470-horsepower 6.4-liter V8.