Bronco Family: Two's Not Enough?

Like its Mustang stable mate, Ford’s returning Bronco finds itself with a brood. The Bronco is now a brand, comprised of the namesake, body-on-frame off-roader and the tag-along Bronco Sport — a retro-styled model based on the unibody Ford Escape.

That’s apparently just the start of it.

Ford isn’t shy when it comes to discussing the Bronco family’s future, though it can’t say for sure who exactly will turn up at roll call.

In a media call reported by Automotive News, Ford’s U.S. marketing manager, Mark Grueber, said, “We’ll start with the three models that we have … and continue to look to where there’s customers we could satisfy with Bronco and how to continue to expand the brand in the future.”

In this exercise, the two- and four-door Broncos count as separate products.

Dave Pericak, head of Ford icons (of which Bronco, like Mustang, is a member) admitted that the automaker runs the risk of screwing everything up and watering down the heritage and majesty of the returning off-roader if it just goes hog-wild with the nameplate.

“You can make the mistake with a family of vehicles if you just start peppering that family with things that don’t live up to the core tenets with what it is you’re building,” he said. “Everything we do … it will have to live up to that same DNA and that same goal that the Bronco has, otherwise it doesn’t belong in the family. We’re not just badge-engineering. It’s not the name that makes the vehicle, it’s the vehicle that makes the name.”

Some might use this quote to criticize the upcoming Bronco Sport, which reportedly boasts standard four-wheel drive and offers a nod to its cousin via a more athletic suspension and terrain management system. Bronco Purists will surely rebel at the interloper, while the vast bulk of the buying public likely won’t care one bit. We’ve heard the same sentiment voiced by Ford in relation to the Mustang and the new Mustang Mach-E SUV.

What form could an expanded Bronco family take? Well, new SUVs seem to be off the table. Ford’s so overstocked with existing and future utility models already, it’s reportedly considering ditching the midsize Edge once the current generation reaches the end of its cycle.

There’s talk, very unconfirmed, of a Bronco pickup to compete against Jeep’s Wrangler-based Gladiator, while a compact, unibody pickup tentatively named Maverick might prove another worthy candidate. After all, it would carry the same underpinnings as the Bronco Sport (and Euro-market Ford Focus).

Join the Ford Bronco Forum here.

Join the Ford Bronco Sport Forum here.

[Image: Ford]