Photo: Kleber Silva on Behance
Jeep has recently unveiled the Commander for Latin American markets, and pixel artists have already scrambled to imagine the people-carrying utility vehicle with different body styles. This particular design study envisions a double-cab workhorse with the side windows and rear doors of the Fiat Toro, a unibody pickup that's twinned with the Ram 1000.
Kleber Silva is the gentleman behind this rendering, which makes a lot of sense from a few standpoints. First of all, the Jeep, Fiat, and Ram brands are brothers in arms under the Stellantis umbrella. Secondly, the underpinnings and 2.0-liter turbo diesel powerplant are very similar as well.
Looking at the bigger picture, a premium-oriented Toro/1000 with the Jeep badge on the steering wheel and the seven-slot grille up front wouldn’t make sense in Latin America due to the higher costs associated with the additional equipment, luxury touches, and so forth. As a result, it’s hard to imagine the Jeep brand overlapping with Fiat and Ram in such a competitive segment.
Over in the United States, things are a little different. The Honda Ridgeline used to be the only pickup truck with a unibody for a very long period of time, but Hyundai and the Ford Motor Company have finally stepped up to the challenge of stealing customers away from the Japanese manufacturer.
As opposed to the mid-sized Ridgeline, the compact-sized Santa Cruz is marketed as a sport adventure vehicle, and the Maverick doesn’t hold a candle to the payload and towing capacities of the Ranger. “Vanilla trucks” is how some people describe these models, which is both right and wrong because the days when trucks were used exclusively for work are long gone.
In regard to pricing, the Maverick has a lot going for it because $19,995 excluding destination charge for a 2.5-liter hybrid and plenty of standard equipment is very good value. By comparison, the Escape on which it’s based kicks off at $25,555 for a 1.5-liter turbocharged three-cylinder motor.
Looking at the bigger picture, a premium-oriented Toro/1000 with the Jeep badge on the steering wheel and the seven-slot grille up front wouldn’t make sense in Latin America due to the higher costs associated with the additional equipment, luxury touches, and so forth. As a result, it’s hard to imagine the Jeep brand overlapping with Fiat and Ram in such a competitive segment.
Over in the United States, things are a little different. The Honda Ridgeline used to be the only pickup truck with a unibody for a very long period of time, but Hyundai and the Ford Motor Company have finally stepped up to the challenge of stealing customers away from the Japanese manufacturer.
As opposed to the mid-sized Ridgeline, the compact-sized Santa Cruz is marketed as a sport adventure vehicle, and the Maverick doesn’t hold a candle to the payload and towing capacities of the Ranger. “Vanilla trucks” is how some people describe these models, which is both right and wrong because the days when trucks were used exclusively for work are long gone.
In regard to pricing, the Maverick has a lot going for it because $19,995 excluding destination charge for a 2.5-liter hybrid and plenty of standard equipment is very good value. By comparison, the Escape on which it’s based kicks off at $25,555 for a 1.5-liter turbocharged three-cylinder motor.
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