The Jeep Gladiator 4xeplug-in hybrid (PHEV) has been axed on the eve of its launch, with parent company Stellantis confirming the news after a notice was sent to component suppliers.
According to Automotive News, the automaker said: “As customers’ propulsion preferences for battery-electric trucks continue to evolve, Stellantis is reassessing its product strategy and will no longer include an electrified Gladiator variant in the Jeep lineup.”
The current-generation Gladiator was introduced globally in 2019, with the Australian version updated earlier this month with a ‘streamlined’ range, still powered exclusively by the Pentastar naturally aspirated 3.6-litre V6.
The Gladiator 4xe – previously planned for a 2025 launch – has succumbed to a similar global strategy to reduce complexity from the lineup.
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Stellantis Australia – which imports Jeep here alongside other brands including Alfa Romeo, Fiat and Leapmotor – had not yet confirmed the Gladiator 4xe as part of the local lineup.
It would have been the third plug-in hybrid vehicle (PHEV) from Jeep in Australia, following the Compass and Grand Cherokee 4xe, the latter of which won’t be replaced once current stocks are sold.
A plug-in hybrid version of the Wrangler has been in production since December 2020, at the same Toledo plant in Ohio where the Gladiator is built. However, it was never engineered for right-hand drive.
Likewise, a plug-in hybrid version of the Renegade offered in Europe was never introduced here.
The Gladiator 4xe’s axing comes among sweeping changes at Stellantis globally, with a previous pledge to EVs only in Europe by 2030 scrapped earlier this month.
New CEO and former Jeep boss, Antonio Filosa, was installed in June after the controversial and sudden departure of previous boss Carlos Tavares in December last year.
Mr Filosa had confirmed the Gladiator 4xe when he was running Jeep, but volatile markets – driven by changing emissions regulations and US tariffs – have come as Stellantis posts significant losses.
In the first half of 2025, Stellantis posted a €2.3 billion loss (A$4.1 billion) against a €5.6 billion (A$10.4 billion) profit over the same period last year.
In the US, Jeep sales increased by two per cent year-on-year between January and June 2025, driven by the Gladiator with a 27 per cent growth in the second quarter (April-June) and Wrangler sales up 23 per cent.
Australian Jeep sales over the same timeframe were down 19.2 per cent, with the Gladiator up 16.6 per cent.
“The Jeep brand has already begun reinvesting funding to ensure the long-term growth of the Jeep Gladiator and will introduce even more customer-requested factory features, customisation, and additional powertrain options in the near future,” the automaker said.
One of those powertrain options is set to be the 6.4-litre Apache V8, already used in the Wrangler in the US, which will power an upcoming Gladiator Rubicon 392. It’s set to pump out the same 336kW of power and 610Nm of torque as its SUV counterpart.
It’s unlikely to come to Australia, given the Wrangler Rubicon 392 was never engineered for right-hand drive.
Stellantis is also set to reintroduce V8s in Ram 1500 pickup trucks in the US, driven by changes to emissions regulations in the US, after dropping them for turbocharged six-cylinder engines last year. The local return of the V8-powered 1500 has yet to be confirmed by Ateco, which imports Ram vehicles in Australia.
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