UPDATE, 15 January 2021: Jeep missed the initial 'late 2020' arrival date for the Gladiator Sport S, but has confirmed to CarAdvice that the new entry-level variant will arrive by the end of March (Q1) 2021.
18 June 2020: Jeep has slashed $10,000 off the starting price of the 2021 Gladiator ute range, just weeks after the model went on sale in Australia.
Jeep will add a new ‘Sport S’ model to the Australian Gladiator line-up, which will lower the starting price to about $65,000 plus on-road costs.
The new base model will arrive in Australia by March 2021, and undercut the existing range by around $10,000.
Australian specifications for the Gladiator Sport S are yet to be released by Jeep Australia.
If the North American specs are anything to go by, Sport S will have a smaller five-inch infotainment display, cloth seats with manual adjustment, 17-inch alloy wheels and ‘Sunrider’ soft top. The Sport S also gets smaller and narrower differentials, compared to Overland and Rubicon.
North American buyers are given the option of a ‘Max Tow Package’ on the Sport S variant, which isn’t available on Overland and Rubicon. It changes over to heavier-duty differentials with lower ratios (effectively Rubicon axles, without the locking ability), and swaps in a heavy-duty cooling package.
With the Max Tow Package fitted, the Jeep Gladiator can tow up to 3470kg. Currently, the Australian-delivered Jeep Gladiator has a maximum towing capacity of 2721kg.
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Where the Gladiator Overland model gets urban niceties like a leather interior, heated seats, body-coloured fenders and 18-inch wheels as standard, the Gladiator Rubicon focusses on off-road goodies like locking differentials, more aggressive tyres, a 4:1 transfer case and a disconnecting front swaybar.
The Jeep Gladiator Overland attracts a price of $75,450 before on-road costs, while the Rubicon is a little more expensive at $76,450.
The Gladiator also comes to Australia in Launch Edition guise, which effectively combines the best parts of Overland and Rubicon, with a few options thrown in for good measure.
The Jeep Gladiator Launch Edition is the most expensive variant, with a price tag of $86,450 plus on-roads.
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