New Ford Bronco Confirmed As Family Of Off-Road Vehicles

As Ford F Motor Company continues trying to transform itself, it’s model lineup seems to be transforming into a family of families. We’ve already seen the Mustang expand with the addition of electric Mach-E crossover to the traditional coupe and convertible. The F-series trucks have been a family for decades. Now the return of the Bronco after a quarter century absence is also coming with three distinct variants.

Having multiple Bronco SUVs at the same time is actually nothing new for Ford. Between 1984 and 1990, Ford had both the full-size F-150 based Bronco and the compact Ranger-based Bronco II. As four-door SUVs were becoming increasingly popular at the beginning of the 1990s, the Bronco II badge gave way to the Explorer which went on to build a loyal following of its own. Eventually even the big Bronco went away as Ford rebadged its four-door replacement as the Expedition. 

Over the years, Ford has more than once hinted at reviving the Bronco, most notably with the 2004 Bronco concept.  As SUVs have continued to surge in popularity over the past decade, Ford had notable success with its car-based crossovers like the Escape and Explorer. But at the same time, the rugged off-road Jeeps were also growing fast and Ford wanted a piece of that pie.

The return of the midsize Ranger pickup to North America provided the perfect opportunity and the Bronco would be reborn. But it wouldn’t be just one Bronco like the 1966 original. Ford saw that Jeep was selling a lot of Trailhawk variants of its crossovers like the Cherokee, Compass and even Renegade. While these had the same basic bodies as their on-road counterparts, the Trailhawk badge went along with true four-wheel-drive off-road capability. 

Thus when Ford launched the new Escape last year, they decided to make it more focused on the urban/suburban lifestyle user that has always been the core of its customer base. A separate derivative off the same flexible, transverse engine unibody platform would become what was referred to as the “compact, rugged, off-road SUV.” That vehicle now has the name that has oft been rumored over the past year, Bronco Sport. We’ll have to wait a bit to see if it’s as capable off-road as a Jeep Compass Trailhawk or its siblings. 

The other two Broncos are expected to be derived from Ford’s new flexible body-on-frame platform shared with the F-150 and the next-generation Ranger. These are the models that directly challenge the king of this segment, the Jeep Wrangler as well as Land Rover’s new Defender. 

Like the Wrangler, these Broncos come in two and four-door flavors. While we don’t know many details about these yet, Ford has previously indicated that they will be easily reconfigurable with features like removable roofs and possibly even removable doors, just like the Wranglers. Just as Mopar offers lots of customization options for the Wrangler, Ford will do the same for Bronco. 

One thing we do know is that Ford has promised that all of its new SUVs will have electrified powertrain options. How this goes with Bronco will be revealed in a week or so as the vehicles are detailed but count on at least hybrid variants of all three and possibly plug-in hybrids as well.