What’s FCA doing with the Wrangler?
FCA sent two messages this week with the Wrangler. One message, adding it to the Friends & Family For Everyone discount list, was “We made too many Wranglers.” 2019 Wranglers come with up to $4,500 on the hood; 2020 Wranglers have a $1,500 rebate. The Jeep Gladiator pickup carries a $2,000 rebate, pretty sad for a brand new vehicle.
The other message from FCA was that workers are racking up overtime at Jeep’s Toledo North plant, signaling that FCA thinks they need more of the off-road vehicles.
Which is it? The two Toledo plants can pump out many more Wranglers and Gladiators than ever before; indeed, they can flood the market. Meanwhile, Ford’s new Bronco is likely to undercut the price of the Wrangler, possibly quite severely. Is Jeep really pumping out fleets of Wranglers at a time when, with coronavirus and stock market dives and Broncos, they may be destined to sit on the lots?
Stranger things have happened, but perhaps there’s a strategy there. One hopes that FCA is not overproducing only to over-rebate; the Wrangler is one of a very few FCA vehicles to have an excellent resale value.
Clark Westfield grew up fixing up and driving past-their-prime American cars, including various GM and Mopar V8s. He has ghostwritten auto news for the last few years, and lives in Farmingdale, New York.