Baby Bronco?

[G8orFord]

Spied: 'Baby' Ford Bronco caught on camera ahead of upcoming reveal

The small SUV hits the trail.

www.foxnews.com

Just thought some might be interested.

 

[Dirtman]

I don't like it.

 

[pjtoledo]

looks a bit too boxy for my tastes. don't care for the choice of color palettes either.

 

[Bird76Mojo]

What'd I tell ya... A soccer mom's grocery getter.

 

[snoranger]

What'd I tell ya... A soccer mom's grocery getter.

This is what's been referred to as the "baby Bronco"... Its supposed to be a smaller SUV then the Ranger based Bronco and based of the Escape.

 

[Bird76Mojo]

I'm gonna go ahead and say it. BOTH Broncos will be grocery getters. Watered down IFS shitboxes that bring shame to their former, glorious, hard-earned fame and Bronco badging. Parking lot cruisers that traverse curbs and speedbumps in a single bound.

A true Bronco should be something a woodsman or professional bear hunter would be proud to use as his daily. Something that can take you anywhere in the northern hemisphere. A vehicle that helps you climb mountains. Something a weathered old Texas Ranger would drive. Anything less is blasphemy.

It's time for Ford to listen to it's customers. Build a midsize to fullsize straight axle 4x4 with V8 option, or turbo V6, manual EVERYTHING. Right now, the only option for guys who want SERIOUS durability from Ford is the huge, heavy F250 or F350 models that weight as much as a dozer. Again, Jeep is winning in this arena. Ford just fails to "get it" anymore..

 

[G8orFord]

Hmmmm... So Ford should build a vehicle specifically for a few tens of thousands (maybe) of customers that might want a solid axle, "manual everything", off-roader and not a vehicle that the hundreds of thousands (literally) of other customers want? I get what you're saying and don't really disagree with you, but I also don't think it makes a lot of sense from a sales standpoint. Jeep is winning with the people that want Jeeps. Check the total sales numbers and I think you'll see that Jeep may be winning the "off-road" battle, but Ford is winning the war. For that matter, so is GM and the other Fiat models, in comparison.

I'm not arguing or trying to start anything, just stating my opinion on the reality of it.

 

[fastpakr]

I hate to accept it, but I agree with G8orFord about what Ford's doing here. They're producing vehicles like this because they -are- listening to their customers. It would be great if they could build something for everyone, but realistically that's never going to happen. At the end of the day, our community gets to keep doing what it's always done - pick the pieces we want and build it ourselves.

 

[19Walt93]

I just hope they don't call it Bronco-Jr,II,or something. We had Bronco and Bronco II at the same time as LTD and LTD II. The downsized, fox body LTD of the 80's wasn't actually an LTD II but an awful lot of people called them that, the LTD II was the 1977-79 Torino replacement.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Hmmmm... So Ford should build a vehicle specifically for a few tens of thousands (maybe) of customers that might want a solid axle, "manual everything", off-roader and not a vehicle that the hundreds of thousands (literally) of other customers want? I get what you're saying and don't really disagree with you, but I also don't think it makes a lot of sense from a sales standpoint. Jeep is winning with the people that want Jeeps. Check the total sales numbers and I think you'll see that Jeep may be winning the "off-road" battle, but Ford is winning the war. For that matter, so is GM and the other Fiat models, in comparison.

I'm not arguing or trying to start anything, just stating my opinion on the reality of it.

If you want an offroad SUV right now it is pretty much Wrangler vs 4Runner/4Runner spin offs (FJ, Lexus GX)

Targeting 4Runner would give you a lot bigger market IMO. They are pretty decent on the trail and decent to live with the rest of the time too. They can be family cars to overlanding rigs and everything in between.

Go price a 4Runner and tell me with a straight face that there isn't much demand for such a rig.

 

[snoranger]

Hmmmm... So Ford should build a vehicle specifically for a few tens of thousands (maybe) of customers that might want a solid axle, "manual everything", off-roader and not a vehicle that the hundreds of thousands (literally) of other customers want? I get what you're saying and don't really disagree with you, but I also don't think it makes a lot of sense from a sales standpoint. Jeep is winning with the people that want Jeeps. Check the total sales numbers and I think you'll see that Jeep may be winning the "off-road" battle, but Ford is winning the war. For that matter, so is GM and the other Fiat models, in comparison.

I'm not arguing or trying to start anything, just stating my opinion on the reality of it.

Jeep sold approx 240k Wranglers last year. I'd guess that 10% (20% max) will use them to their potential... the rest are left stock, slightly modified, or mall crawlers.
You figure the hardcore Jeep fan will buy another Jeep - no questions asked, they have a strong following. But there's a good percent that buy it because it has a removable roof or doors, It looks fun, It's marketed as a tough outdoorsman vehicle, etc. They don't know the difference between IFS and solid front axle. Take the reasons listed above, mix in IFS, and put it head to head with a Wrangler... Who's going to win in a 5-10 minute test drive down the road???

The only way the Bronco will not go the way of the FJ Crusier reboot is to spend the marketing $$$. They're actually doing a good job of getting the hype up before it's release, but I personally think they may have started too early. You need to grab people's attention and hold it until you can buy one. The Bronco isn't supposed to hit the dealers until very late 2020. That's a long time and people have short attention spans.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

The only way the Bronco will not go the way of the FJ Crusier reboot is to spend the marketing $$$. They're actually doing a good job of getting the hype up before it's release, but I personally think they may have started too early. You need to grab people's attention and hold it until you can buy one. The Bronco isn't supposed to hit the dealers until very late 2020. That's a long time and people have short attention spans.

FJ had serious inhouse competition too.

It is going to take decades to build a rabid fanbase like Toyota and Jeep have built. The only Ford product to rival that would be the Mustang.

 

[Ranger850]

I just hope they don't call it Bronco-Jr,II,or something. We had Bronco and Bronco II at the same time as LTD and LTD II. The downsized, fox body LTD of the 80's wasn't actually an LTD II but an awful lot of people called them that, the LTD II was the 1977-79 Torino replacement.

FJ had serious inhouse competition too.

It is going to take decades to build a rabid fanbase like Toyota and Jeep have built. The only Ford product to rival that would be the Mustang.

Mustang II anybody?

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Mustang II anybody?

Bronco III

 

[fastpakr]

Bronco Jr