New Ford Bronco to Spawn Pickup Variant: Report

by Chad Kirchner

Published: July 16th, 2019

new ford bronco to spawn pickup variant report

An all-new Ford Bronco is going to make its way back to dealerships sometime next year, and the speculation and hype around the next-generation off-roader is nearing feverish levels. Michigan Assembly builds the Ranger. It will also build the Bronco. But that’s not the only pickup truck that will be coming from there.

Automobile is reporting that a Bronco pickup truck is to start production in July of 2024 and will compete directly with Jeep’s Gladiator. The company making the prediction, AutoForecast Solutions, said that design and engineering for the truck began shortly after the launch of the Gladiator.

Why 2024? According to another source, the Focus-based Ford Courier is on the way in 2021. The next-generation Ranger set to go on sale during that time. Ford also plans to launch a Ranger Raptor on the new platform.

Because the company will be so busy getting Ranger Raptor and Courier out the door, they won’t have time to take on the Bronco pickup project until afterwards. A modified Bronco platform will be the basis for the pickup truck. That is a body-on-frame setup, and not the unibody construction that the upcoming “Baby Bronco” will have.

How much of this has merit?

I’ve had sources tell me that they’re expecting a Ranger Raptor around the 2021 timeframe. When the Ranger gets updated globally, the U.S. will be running the same version of the truck. Right now, the frames are different between the U.S.-spec and the global-spec models. None of the hard points are the same, which is why having a Ranger Raptor now doesn’t make sense.

The last time Ford officially said anything about Bronco, it was for the year 2020. There’s no reason to suspect that’s changed.

So what about the Bronco pickup? Initial sales of the Gladiator are strong, for sure. But we’ve yet to see any long-term take rates on the truck. In a lot of ways, the Bronco pickup already exists. The Bronco pickup is the Ranger.

It’s all interesting speculation, but only time will tell what the Blue Oval’s plans are for the Bronco and Ranger.

[Image: Ford]

#Bronco #BroncoPickup #FordBronco #FordCourier #FordRanger #RangerRaptor

Chad Kirchner

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2 of 29 comments

IBx1 on Jul 17, 2019

...the pickup variant of the Bronco is called removing the back shell.

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MACulberson on Jul 17, 2019

I hope Ford reads this. When is it coming out? When can we see it as official vehicle and not as what someone thinks it’s going to look like? I have been impatiently waiting for the new Bronco. I’m about to give up hope of it. I’m about to go order a new Jeep Gladiator.

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