American vehicle news site Autoline has confirmed through some of the Ford brass that the upcoming 2020 Ford Bronco, which has been recently confirmed for production, will be unique from the Everest model.
The interview is with Raj Nair, an Executive Vice President at Ford. The main content is regarding Ford’s upcoming new F-150, but conversation gets quickly steered towards the Ranger and Bronco models that are returning to the lineup in America.
“In terms of size, it’s going to be ‘a similar sized vehicle to what you see in the Ranger.” Mr Nair says. It’s based on the same platform, along with the Everest, so it makes sense that they will all have similar lengths, widths and wheelbases. But, it’s going to be an overtly similar car.
It’s referred to in the interview as an ‘incremental vehicle’, one which builds on or adds to the existing model. He adds afterwards that it is upcoming Ford Bronco ‘completely unique from the Everest’, inferring much more than just a badge swap and basic styling.
There’s quite a bit of talk about the heritage of the Bronco name as well, something that is built for off-road work and recreation. Let’s hope they hit the nail on the head. What we still don’t know either is whether we are going to see this in Australia. Considering the R&D is led by an Australian team, and our SUV market is currently experiencing strong and growing sales, it makes perfect sense to market the Bronco here as an FJ Cruiser-esque vehicle.
Toyota showed that a well-sorted vehicle based on a good platform, but with lots of retro-cool and lifestyle changes can be a solid niche seller in Australia. That aspirational kind of model also has a knock-on effect for the rest of the range, something that wouldn’t be lost on the Ford bigwigs.
This comes after a Reddit user, who claims to be an Employee of Ford, warning people that the Ford Bronco won’t be much more than a re-badged Everest. This seems to go against what Mr Nair is saying, and you’ve got to believe a company executive on camera over an unidentified forum user.
The Ranger that is going to land in the good ‘ol US-of-A is going to be pretty much the same as Australian models, and the rest of the world for that matter. There will be slight tweaks in specs and inclusions to suit that domestic market, but it will be otherwise the same model.
