"Here at DRIVEN we often get invited to international media launches. Because New Zealand is very far away from… well, everywhere, these events usually involve a day or two of travel each way, a day or two on the ground and a lot of frantic activity.

Which brings us to Jeep’s new Gladiator. It’s the first Jeep factory-designed and built pickup truck - or “ute” to us Kiwis - for 18 years and it was launched to the international media in Central Otago. That meant spectacular driving roads and scenery with some proper off-roading."

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The Jeep brand is synonymous with action and adventure, so what better place to drive a new model than the adventure capital of NZ? We head to Queenstown for the global launch of the Jeep Gladiator.

While Gladiator appears to be just a Wrangler with a tray, the underpinnings have undergone a bunch of engineering tweaks to produce ‘the most capable truck in the segment’.

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As utes continue to dominate new vehicle sales in New Zealand, get ready to have a new sub-category on our roads (and off them) the lifestyle pick-up truck.

And leading the pack will be Jeep’s Gladiator that is a mixture of soft-top driving and carrier of grown up toys such as mountain bikes, dirt bikes, kayaks, windsurfers, stand up paddle boards… you name it.

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"It's been a long time between genuine Jeep pickup trucks: the last factory effort was the Cherokee-based Comanche that bowed out in 1992, or if you wanted something similar to a Wrangler the CJ-8 Scrambler of 1981-85. Neither were sold new in New Zealand.

...The Gladiator is heading to New Zealand mid-year, but we've already bashed it around on Kiwi roads... and over some really big rocks."

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