Not long ago, if you wanted to buy an American-built pickup truck you had three choices: a Chevy truck, a Ford truck and a RAM truck. However, for quite a while, there was another choice – a Jeep. Yup, From 1947 until 1992, Jeep was a major manufacturer of pickup trucks and they were quite popular. Knowing that the demand is there, Jeep has been teasing us for quite a while that another Jeep pickup truck is in the works and it turns out that the wait is about to be over.

We recently an official announcement from Jeep states that there is another Wrangler-based pickup truck in the works. That’s the word from the Detroit News, as per a conversation with Fiat Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne and Jeep global chief Mike Manley. Both Manley and Marchionne say that the new pickup will arrive in late 2017. “Sergio and I work very, very closely on the Jeep product portfolio, and both of us have been a fan of a potential Wrangler pickup,” he said. “For me, there is a historical place in our lineup for it.”

While Jeep seriously considered launching the truck as a standalone model (in other words, not a Wrangler-based truck), the decision was made to take the long-wheelbase version of the Wrangler, fit it with a pickup bed add other additional features. Jeep enthusiasts will note that it bears a passing resemblance to the old CJ-8 Scrambler that was built during the 1980s.

Marchionne and Manley state that Jeep’s upcoming pickup will be built alongside the next-generation Wrangler in Toledo, Ohio. The Wrangler is expected to bow in late 2017, and the pickup is tentatively scheduled to arrive before the end of 2018. More concrete details will be announced later this month when Jeep parent company Fiat-Chrysler Automobiles publishes an updated five-year plan for all of its models.

Journalists insist that the new Wrangler-based pickup will be a hit.  Jeep enthusiasts are a loyal lot and have a tendency to stay with the brand.  For those that currently own a Jeep product and are in the market for a pickup truck, the new Wrangler truck will be a natural.