You'll Have to Wait Longer Than Expected for That Wrangler Pickup: Jeep Boss

With the possible exception of the upcoming Ford Bronco, no automotive product has more Americans feeling giddy with anticipation than the pickup version of Jeep’s beloved Wrangler.

Dreamed of by wistful Jeep aficionados for years, the go-ahead given to the Holy Grail of Jeepdom seemed to signal that yes, your dreams really can come true. Unfortunately, this seems to be a case of “all good things come to those who wait,” because wait you will. Two and a half years, to be exact.

Some of that time will be spent figuring out a name that doesn’t offend people.

According to The Detroit News, Jeep head Mike Manley confirmed production of the Wrangler pickup starting in late 2019. That’s a full two years after next-generation Wranglers start rolling out of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles’ Toledo assembly plant.

Until now, speculation has said that the Wrangler pickup would follow its conventional sibling by about a year. When he confirmed the looming pickup in early 2016, FCA CEO Sergio Marchionne claimed it would appear “shortly” after the new Wrangler’s launch. Apparently not.

Still, until now there was no reason to anticipate any undue delay. United Auto Workers Local 12 president Bruce Baumhower said in December that production of current-generation Wranglers would cease in March 2018, after which the assembly line would be converted to handle the upcoming truck. Next-gen Wranglers would commence production in November of this year, he claimed.

FCA clearly wants to take its time crafting a Jeep pickup.

“The key thing for me is to make sure the new Wrangler is fully up and running,” said Manley.

For now, the only potential designs we have to go on are aged — yet drool-worthy — concept vehicles. As for a name, the first Jeep pickup nameplate that comes to mind is the Comanche — a Cherokee-based regular cab built from 1985 to 1992. However, the rise of political correctness might have something to say about that.

While Manley claims the company wants a historic name, no one inside FCA has confirmed whether or not “Comanche” is off the table. One auto industry analyst sure hopes, at least for FCA’s sake, that it is.

Cox Automotive executive analyst Rebecca Lindland told The Detroit News a Native American nameplate just won’t fly in today’s culture.

“The issue they’re going to find with Comanche is, quite frankly, political correctness: Is it going to be seen as offensive,” she said. “The trick with bringing a nameplate back is understanding the current culture when you’re reintroducing this.”

If the company absolutely must have a nod to the past, the Gladiator nameplate — a full-size, Wagoneer-based pickup made from 1962 to 1988 — in another option. The most well-known Wrangler-based truck concept, revealed in late 2004, carried that name.

[Image: Fiat Chrysler Automobiles]