Jeep Targets 2019 Launch for All-New Pickup Truck

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV will begin building the Jeep Wrangler-based pickup truck it’s planning in late 2019 at its Toledo, Ohio, complex, The Detroit News reports.

FCA confirmed plans for the long-rumored vehicle more than a year ago at the 2016 Detroit auto show but hadn’t provided a launch timeline until now. The News cites comments by Jeep head Mike Manley at a press event for the 2017 Jeep Compass compact SUV.

That yet-to-be-named midsize truck is expected to compete against the Ford Ranger, with estimated annual demand at about 45,000 units. Manley says most sales for the new pickup will be in North America and the Middle East.

Jeep’s most recent pickup model was the Comanche, which it phased out in the early 1990s. It previously built the Willys Jeep (1947 to 1965), full-size Gladiator (1962-1971) and J-Series (1971-1988) trucks.

In January, FCA announced plans to invest $1 billion to retool its Warren Truck Assembly Plant to build the all-new Jeep Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer and to ready the Toledo plant for the pickup.

To make room for the new truck, FCA will produce the Wrangler SUV at Toledo site’s north plant when the all-new SUV is launched this autumn. The current Wrangler is built at the Toledo facility’s Supplier Park, which is being retooled for the pickup truck.