Jeep's Toledo Assembly Complex Will Be Retooled in Preparation for a New Model

WTVG reports that Stellantis will retool the production facility for a new model, align production with poor sales during the first half of 2024, and observe a week for summer vacation. More specifically, Toledo South employees will be on vacation in the week starting August 5.

For the remainder of the downtime period, employees will be reassigned to Toledo North. It's at this moment that we should talk a bit about Toledo Supplier Park (a.k.a. Toledo South) and Toledo North. The latter was built for the production of the Jeep Liberty, which rolled out in April 2001. At press time, it's tasked with the two- and four-door Wrangler, plus the Wrangler 4xe, which comes with four doors exclusively.

Toledo South was built when DaimlerChrysler AG was a thing, originally for Wrangler production. The final JK-series Wrangler was finished in April 2018 at Toledo South. As of July 2024, only the Gladiator is manufactured there.

Regarding the downtime, "to align production with sales" is the automaker's way of saying that Jeep isn't moving enough vehicles. In Q2 2024 and H1 2024, brand sales in the US market nosedived -19 percent and -9 percent, respectively. As for the "retool the plant for a new model" part of WTVG's report, we already know that Toledo South is gearing for Gladiator 4xe.

Enter page 8 of the UAW-Stellantis hourly agreement from November 2023, which lists that Wrangler 4xe will be updated in 2025. It's not clear if that refers to the calendar or model year. Said agreement also lists the Gladiator 4xe in 2025, as well as the next-gen Wrangler in 2028. Codenamed J70, the JL's replacement will feature BEV and REPB setups, with REPB standing for range-extended electric vehicle à la the 2025 Ram 1500 Ramcharger.

JL production will continue into 2028, the year the JT will end production as well. Curiously, the cited hourly agreement does not include any replacement for the JT. On the other hand, Belvidere is gearing up for a mid-size pickup due in 2027. In other words, the long-awaited return of the Dodge Dakota under the Ram truck brand.

With Toledo South currently producing the Gladiator and CAFE fuel economy regulations getting increasingly strict with each passing year, Gladiator 4xe makes plenty of sense. It would also be a symbolic blow to the Ford Motor Company, whose EcoBoost-powered Ranger Plug-In Hybrid isn't coming to the US anytime soon.

Revealed in September 2023 for 2025, the Ranger Plug-In Hybrid features a 75-kW electric motor (that would be 101 horsepower) and targets around 45 kilometers (28 miles) of electric range in the WLTP. Bear in mind that WLTP is a different animal from the EPA's way of estimating zero-emission range. As for the soon-to-be-updated Wrangler 4xe, its electric motors are rated at 44 and 134 horses, respectively, while WLTP electric range goes up to 55 kilometers (34 miles) in an urban environment.