Bronco vs Wrangler Research Study: conquest, defection, market share and customer profile comparison

Market research firm S&P Global Mobility has published a new research study comparing the Bronco directly against the Wrangler. Download the whole report here:

General Takeaways:

• Bronco has conquested Wrangler owners (more than any other model)
• Bronco still trails Jeep Wrangler in share of the Compact Utility Segment (but the gap is closing)
• CR-V, Cherokee and Rogue all have ceded share of the segment since the Bronco launched
• Bronco buyers skew slightly younger than Wrangler customers
• Bronco buyers have marginally higher incomes than Wrangler customers
• Bronco buyers and are more likely to be male when compared to Wrangler buyers
• Bronco buyers are more likely to be of Western European descent (and less likely to be African American, Asian, or Hispanic when compared with the Wrangler owner)
• Bronco buyers are almost twice as likely to have a pickup in the garage, but less likely to have an SUV or CUV
• Almost half of Bronco buyers have a Ford in the garage, while slightly less than four of every ten Wrangler customers own a Jeep.

Purchase / Financial Profile:

• Wrangler buyers are 8x more likely to lease than Bronco customers (most likely driven by very competitive Wrangler lease payments)
• Wrangler buyers who lease generally have higher credit scores than Bronco buyers who lease
• Bronco buyers who purchase/finance generally have higher credit scores than Wrangler purchasers. As a result, Bronco buyers borrow money at lower interest rates.
• Wrangler buyers typically have a higher loan-to-value (LTV) ratio than Bronco buyers (and the segment overall), resulting from Wrangler buyers' lower credit-worthiness.
• Loan monthly payments for both Bronco and Wrangler are above segment average (due in part to higher transaction prices when compared to other compact utilities)

Conquest / Defection Stats:

• With the Bronco launch last summer, Wrangler's conquest/defection ratio (within the segment) began to decline
• More Wrangler households have defected to the Bronco than have households with any other vehicle in the garage
• Number of Wrangler households that defect to the Bronco (as a percent of total Wrangler defections) has risen to record highs of 9% and 10% in January and February 2022, respectively, and 9% again in March 2022.

Market share data show that Bronco share of the Compact Utility Segment has climbed intermittently to 6%, but Wrangler continues to account for 7-9% of the segment, suggesting Bronco has not materially hurt Wrangler. Rather, S&P Global Mobility loyalty data suggest the CR-V, Cherokee and Rogue all have ceded share since the Bronco launch.



At the DMA level, Wrangler continues to out-perform Bronco in every one of the Compact Utility Segment's twenty largest DMAs, though the gap is small in Minneapolis, Albany (NY) and Seattle.

Administrator said:

Bronco buyers skew slightly younger than Wrangler customers

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This actually surprises me.

I figured Bronco buyers would skew older, as they were most likely to have Broncos in the garage back in the 70s/80s/90s, and old people typically have higher incomes.

The rest of them are fairly common sense imo.

RagnarKon said:

This actually surprises me.

I figured Bronco buyers would skew older, as they were most likely to have Broncos in the garage back in the 70s/80s/90s, and old people typically have higher incomes.

The rest of them are fairly common sense imo.

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You are definitely right. I expected Broncos to skew higher age than Wranglers.

But a couple of thoughts.

My first car was a Bronco built about the same year I was born. Had an '86 in '03. People my age were just a little too young to really understand the OJ white bronco thing as it happened so we knew the jokes but it didn't have the same connotation.

And regarding the Income, I got a 2 door MT BD. With the 20' price lock it is probably the best deal out there for what you end up with. I spec'd out other similar vehicles and nothing came close.

thatspecialbeat said:

You are definitely right. I expected Broncos to skew higher age than Wranglers.

But a couple of thoughts.

My first car was a Bronco built about the same year I was born. Had an '86 in '03. People my age were just a little too young to really understand the OJ white bronco thing as it happened so we knew the jokes but it didn't have the same connotation.

And regarding the Income, I got a 2 door MT BD. With the 20' price lock it is probably the best deal out there for what you end up with. I spec'd out other similar vehicles and nothing came close.

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You may be on to something.

I was born in 1988. In 1989 my father bought a Bronco, and that was the vehicle I grew up with, the vehicle that took us on all of our family vacations, and the vehicle I learned to drive on. I was also young enough to remember the OJ white Bronco thing, but I definitely didn’t fully grasp what was happening at the time, so the vast majority of my experience regarding the Bronco have been overwhelmingly positive.

All of those memories is a big reason why I ordered on now. (Well… that and my father’s Ford employee discount.)

I wonder how this changes when people can actually buy a Bronco

?? I’d argue 100% of bronco owners have a ford lol and 100% of wranglers owners also have a jeep . I’m sure they mean prior to buying but I got a chuckle out of it. I myself did have a superduty that I sold when buying my bronco.

All I know is after taking delivery of my Bronco, I can’t believe how many Jeep Wranglers I now notice. They were pretty much invisible before, but now I constantly am amazed at the number of Wranglers in every version I see. I am amazed Ford, and GM have not been involved in this sector of the vehicle market.

RagnarKon said:

This actually surprises me.

I figured Bronco buyers would skew older, as they were most likely to have Broncos in the garage back in the 70s/80s/90s, and old people typically have higher incomes.

The rest of them are fairly common sense imo.

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OLD PEOPLE ?

RagnarKon said:

This actually surprises me.

I figured Bronco buyers would skew older, as they were most likely to have Broncos in the garage back in the 70s/80s/90s, and old people typically have higher incomes.

The rest of them are fairly common sense imo.

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Keep in mind that this is a survey and they can skew data to make it fit how they want.

Administrator said:

CR-V, Cherokee and Rogue all have ceded share of the segment since the Bronco launched

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Okay, admit it. Who planned on buying a Nissan Rogue but got a Bronco instead? This is a safe place.

Jason said:

Okay, admit it. Who planned on buying a Nissan Rogue but got a Bronco instead? This is a safe place.

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I was offered either a Rogue or a Tacoma for my loaner vehicle from Hertz. I chose the Taco.

I’ll be the first to open the curtain on the Wrangler mindset. I’ve had 4 (and own one now). When I talk to others, they feel like they want out of the cult a bit more now. Years ago it was cool to have a unique ride like a Wrangler. The Jeep Wave was/is a thing, and it spawned a whole industry. But now everyone around here has one and everything is a club or outing. It’s just kinda weird and icky vs unique a cool. Yes, there are still tons of fun jeep clubs, but I’ve gone from “ooo, neat, another jeep!” To “lord, another wave and I’m only leaving my neighborhood “.

I also fit most of those stats. About the only one is the age part. It doesn’t define “older” all that well, but the rest seems to be spot on.

Stellantis punching the air rn

gryphon1231 said:

Keep in mind that this is a survey and they can skew data to make it fit how they want.

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No, that is not how market research firms operate. It is also not how market research works. Given the company who performed the research is an oft-used company in automotive, the company will have a base with which they compare to adjust survey responses based upon key filters. The insights are then derived from the weighted survey responses.

For example, in consumer product good research companies (e.g., stuff you buy at the Grocery store), new product survey responses are adjusted based upon demographic as Hispanics often respond more favorably than all other racial identifiers. So, a score of 4.56 out of 5.00 may hold a different weight dependent upon demographic in my example.

Now, a more accurate thing to say would be that measurement of consumer behavior passively would have been more accurate than survey response. But, not all industries have easily accessible consumer behavior data so surveys still serve a wider purpose.

Full disclosure, if not evident: I work for a large CPG manufacturer as the global director of consumer and market insights, a.k.a., market research.

FormerJeepJunkie said:

It doesn’t define “older” all that well, but the rest seems to be spot on.

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I tried to download the full report but it errors out. But "older" could easily be, for example, an average age of 49.2 for Bronco and 49.8 for Wrangler.