Fixed Ops Journal - June 2019 - F22

"We think it's going to be the most
accessorized vehicle in the FCA portfolio."

FIXED OPS JOURNAL

IN THE ARENA

KIM MATHERS, head of accessories and performance, Mopar,
on the new Jeep Gladiator pickup

Jeep dealers and Mopar work together to push accessory sales for new Gladiator

ALEX KWANTEN
foj@autonews.com

iat Chrysler Automobiles expects to
sell more accessories for its new
Jeep Gladiator than for any other car or
truck in the automaker's lineup. And
Jeep dealers and fixed ops managers say they
are counting on buyers tricking out the pickup to broaden their sales of accessories and
performance parts.
"It's going to be hot, for sure," says Jack Szanto, parts manager at DCH Chrysler-DodgeJeep-Ram-Fiat of Temecula in California.
Well before the Gladiator arrived in Jeep
showrooms last month, executives of FCA
and its Mopar parts and service division
tapped dealers and enthusiasts to help plan
and execute high-profile concepts to promote
customization of the truck.
"We think it's going to be the most accessorized vehicle in the FCA portfolio," Kim Mathers, Mopar's head of accessories and performance, told Fixed Ops Journal.
That's a high bar. FCA estimated that in
2017, 98 percent of Jeep Wranglers were outfitted with at least one Mopar accessory.
Overall, though, only about 5 percent of vehicle customers buy add-on accessories where
they purchase their car or truck, the dealer software provider Reynolds and Reynolds estimates. New-vehicle dealerships continue to lag
far behind aftermarket vendors in the $44 billion a year U.S. accessories market, where profit
margins routinely approach 50 percent.
Jeep's campaign touting factory accessories
for the Gladiator aims to help close that gap
for FCA and its dealers.

Building the array
In April, FCA displayed six concept Gladiators at the Easter Jeep Safari, an annual
off-roading event for Jeep enthusiasts in
Moab, Utah. One of the concepts, the Gravity,
"was a showcase for the Mopar parts catalog,"
Mathers says. "You can order a Gladiator Rubicon and build a replica out of the catalog."
Another of the concepts, the Scrambler, consisted of about 80 percent catalog parts, Mathers adds. Responses to the Gladiator from
people attending the safari are helping Mopar
tweak accessory offerings, she says.
"We asked, 'Is [this accessory] the right
thing to do?' " Mathers says. "Is our intent correct? Do we need to modify, drop or add
something?"

PAGE 22

JUNE 2019

DCH Jeep in Temecula, Calif., initially expects
to sell 15 to 20 Gladiators a month.

Dealership marketing materials for the
Gladiator, as well as a mobile app that lets buyers configure the pickup, feature many of the
accessories displayed at the safari, she adds.
Mopar wasn't alone in soliciting reaction to
the Gladiator at the event. Many customers of
Larry H. Miller Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge-Ram
Sandy, near Salt Lake City, attend the Moab sa-

fari and have been asking about the Gladiator
for months, notes Jake Turner, the dealership's
accessories manager. The dealership plans to
build and display customized Gladiators similar to the vehicles from the safari to generate
showroom traffic and parts and service sales.
"Those Moab builds are insane," says Ben
Hardy, a salesman at the dealership. "Many
customers will take those ideas and downsize
them - a lift not quite as high, tires not quite
as big."
The dealership's fixed ops and sales operations work together to sell modifications and
guide customers through accessorization and
customization, Turner says. He predicts the
most popular factory accessories for the Gladiator, among the 200-plus on offer, will be
steps, bumpers, tonneau covers, lift kits and
wheels and tires.
The base Gladiator Sport with automatic
transmission lists at $37,040, but prices for the
higher-spec Rubicon range from $45,040 to
more than $60,000, before accessories. Heavily accessorized Gladiators could sell for
$70,000, Turner adds.
Mathers notes that Mopar is working with
Chrysler Capital, FCA's finance arm, to help
reduce the cost to buyers of financing factory
accessories. That makes them a more attractive deal than accessories bought at independent shops, Turner says.

Kim Mathers calls the
Gladiator Gravity concept
vehicle "a showcase
for the Mopar parts
catalog."

see GLADIATOR, next page

Fixed Ops Journal - June 2019

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