Jeep and AM General have reunited to create a concept vehicle of a military-grade, light-duty truck based on the civilian-spec Gladiator. The brands showed the truck on Monday at the Annual Meeting and Exposition of the Association of the U.S. Army in Washington, D.C.
It's called the Jeep Gladiator Extreme Military-Grade Truck (XMT), and the concept is essentially a civilian model up-fitted with various custom-built and commercially available accessories as demonstrations of the underlying capability of Jeep's midsize pickup.
"We're proud to partner with AM General, we look forward to gauging interest and gathering feedback on the Jeep Gladiator XMT, and we're excited about potential future opportunities," said Jeep brand boss Jim Morrison.
Jeep Gladiator Extreme Military-Grade Truck
AM General says that the platform is flexible enough for the partnership to produce "mission-specific and purposeful light-weight tactical trucks" to meet just about any customer demand.
"This new venture gives us an opportunity to showcase our expertise in light tactical vehicles and help FCA maximize the Gladiator's global reach and potentially enter new military markets," said AM General CEO Andy Hove.
AM General believes the Gladiator could provide new and unique utility among light-duty military vehicles, and the company can apply its engineering and manufacturing expertise to the new Gladiator XMT the way it has with the iconic Humvee.
If the military marketplace sees a need for the vehicle, production could begin the last half of next year. The truck would be offered in gas and diesel versions with various versions tailored for personnel transport, command and control, and other purposes.
Jeep and AM General partnering on a new vehicle concept is a corporate and ideological marriage of two entities which were once virtually inseparable.
The original World War II U.S. Army Jeep was a product of Willys-Overland, which went on to become Kaiser-Jeep, which was then purchased by American Motors (AMC). It was AMC that spun off AM General as a subsidiary for the production of military vehicles.
When Renault purchased a controlling interest of AMC in 1982, AM General was formally divested, as regulations at the time prevented the ownership of a defense contractor by a foreign state. Renault was (and still is) partially owned by the French government.