The Jeep Gladiator has climbed to #3 among midsize pickups, which is admittedly not a large group of vehicles, partly by being available during a time of shortages. Now, parts shortages are hitting the Gladiator too, but only for one week of production—so far.
Americans bought 48,784 Gladiators in the first half of the year, a 40% sales gain over the prior year. The top pickups are the Toyota Tacoma, which has been a perennial favorite, and the much newer Ford Ranger.
There is some bright news, which is that the Jefferson North plant, idled on July 11, is set to start up again on August 9; this plant makes Grand Cherokees and Durangos. The Windsor minivan plant is set to start back up again next week, and run for at least two weeks before hitting its scheduled two-week summer maintenance shutdown on August 16.
In addition, the Jeep Cherokee will come back into production at Belvidere this week, but with just one shift; workers will need to wear masks due to a high level of COVID transmission in Boone County. The plant was shut down on March 29 due to parts shortages, reopened on June 1, and cut from three to two shifts (which may lead to 1,641 layoffs in addition to 150 layoffs at the start of March). The plant currently only makes Jeep Cherokees.
via Automotive News, WREX, and Superduckie
