Death to the Bronco Sport

[WhoaNelly]

More importantly, whey the hell do you and everybody else care so much? Are you worried somebody is going to mistake your big bronco for a little bronco? Did owning a big bronco all of the sudden become an indication of dick size?

Lol you just hit on a very sensitive nerve for a significant number of truck buyers.

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[M&M Beer]

At least 10 of my friends have let me know they saw the new bronco only to discover it’s the sport every time.

every.

dang.

time.

I hear ya

 

[cybersal]

So when you say bronco people think bronco sport, when they see the real bronco they will call it a jeep.

The former manager of my office called my Escape a Jeep even though I corrected her hundreds of times.

 

[RG7]

Can’t we just chalk this up under “Problems that won’t exist in a year” and call it a day?

 

[Lord Bronco]

In a vacuum, if the Sport wasn’t called “Bronco,” I have no problem with it. Wouldn’t want one, but it’s a nice little car. However, the little fella is going around making people think it runs this syndicate. But the boss daddy is now out of prison after a 25-year stretch and has been lifting hard on the inside. About to take this family back over.

 

[BroncoMike]

I'll probably get a Sport. I need a small parts-fetcher that's simple to park, gets okay economy, has forced induction for operation at altitude, and will do okay in the snow. The only real rivals are Crosstrek, RAV4, or CR-V, none of which have forced induction, and are underpowered, bigger (except CT), and less capable on mild trails. Jeep's offerings don't interest me, and while the CX-30T looks great in most departments, cargo space is very short and you can't fix the approach/departure issues.

That said, if/when I get a Sport, it will get debadged. Because it isn't a Bronco.

 

[BroncoPls!]

Here's my Bronco Sport story. Ordered my 2 DR Badlands secretly without telling my wife. She pops up one day that she saw a Bronco on the road and would like to replace her Subaru Forrester. I explained that what she saw was a Bronco Sport and that someday I would like to replace my Jeep LJ with a fullsized Bronco....starting to plant the seed! We search around to find a dealer with a Bronco Sport and she picks out a Cactus Grey Big Bend. Dealer gave us the $500 Ford Rebate off of MRSP, $29,445 was the final sale price. 2200 miles and 32 days later she is not really liking it. Mostly because she bought a BB without any creature comfort options or nice interior. Long story short, we drive onto a Mazda lot and trade it in for a CX-5 AWD, Turbo Signature series (really nice car). The manger comes out and says he doesn't know what to offer for the BS for trade. (now I'm thinking this where I'm really going to screwed on trading in a new car still with the paper plates!). Says he called the Ford dealer down street and will give me what they said they would give for it on trade.....$34,000. Don't know if the Ford dealership was sticking it to them or what, we took the extra $4,400 and drove the Mazda off the lot as quickly as we could.

Update+++ I did come clean on Father's Day that I have Bronco on order, she was cool with it

 

[NVBronco813]

I saw the word Bronco on a grill last night at Target and got so excited cause I have yet to see one in person…

just to see the rest of the vehicle and find out it was a sport.

 

[timhood]

I'm officially sportaphobic...I don't think I have ever disliked a vehicle so much...

I couldn't tell!

I don't understand what the target consumer of this vehicle is either because if you want an offroader, get a bronco, if you want a luxury suv, get an explorer or expedition.

The target consumer is one that enjoys the outdoors lifestyle (or wants to portray that), but doesn't need to conquer the Rubicon. It's the same demographic as some Subaru and non-Wrangler Jeep buyers.

The Bronco sport is neither good at offroading and has a far from nice interior.

Not everyone needs a massively-capable suspension to hit the camping roads, fire roads and rutted roads. The reality is, probably most full-size Bronco buyers aren't going to do anything that a Sport Badlands couldn't easily handle.
Hell's Revenge in Moab:

I see one of these things on the road maybe once every month in one of the biggest cities in the country and its been out for almost a year.

If you think they've been out for almost a year, you've probably felt like you've been waiting for your Bronco for three years. The Sport only began to trickle out in December. That sales have been a strong as production will allow says plenty.

Do you think Ford will cancel it in the near future? I don't see bronco sport sales being any good once the real bronco hits dealerships.

There really isn't a correlation between the two. It's like saying there was no market for Camaro buyers because Chevy already had the Corvette.

An even closer comparison would be the Escape and Bronco Sport. They are both based on the same platform yet the two feel substantially different to sit inside and drive. You wouldn't think they were based on the same platform at all. Put another way, if the Bronco Sport looked like the new full-size Bronco, I would bet a ton of Bronco sales would be lost to the Sport.

 

[rugbysecondrow]

Or at least releasing it AFTER the real Bronco........But I agree, a different name would have made 110% more sense. I personally have had numerous people tell me how nice the Broncos they've seen are (before they were available) when they find out I am waiting on one. When I inform them they saw the "Sport", they look at me like I'm bleeding from my ears. It's frustrating. And the Sport is a nice vehicle and good at being what it is, an updated Escape with some off road cred.

If you were releasing a product, with millions invested in it's success, would you pick the name that had a higher likelihood for success and some brand familiarity, or would you start over with a brand new name and hope your marketing department could bridge the knowledge gap?

The fact that so many people are complaining about "bronco Sport sightings" means that the distinctive brand design and naming worked...people are seeing it and talking about it.

There is no doubt that Ford made the right decision.

 

[2.3BigBend]

If you were releasing a product, with millions invested in it's success, would you pick the name that had a higher likelihood for success and some brand familiarity, or would you start over with a brand new name and hope your marketing department could bridge the knowledge gap?

The fact that so many people are complaining about "bronco Sport sightings" means that the distinctive brand design and naming worked...people are seeing it and talking about it.

There is no doubt that Ford made the right decision.

Most people have heard of Escape, and that's what it is. Ford sold over 300,000 of them each year from 14'-17'. The Bronco Sport will NEVER sell 300K per year. Too much competition. People seeing and talking about something that isn't what they think it is can back fire, Imho it already is. It's why we have this thread. Give it 2 to 3 years in a regular market. The Sport will fall flat on it's face. People are idiots for buying it because of it's name. It's a good vehicle, executed well. It's just never gonna be a Bronco (sport). Using your logic, maybe Ford should have called the Maverick an F-150 Sport for name recognition? What could go wrong there? A lot of complaining and people talking about it?

 

[don1n]

Ask if it has a 5th wheel on the back lol.

 

[Bmars1127]

Ugh it’s so annoying! I was talking about my bronco this spring and this lady asked what color I got- I told her cactus gray. She said in a snotty tone “ohhh I’ve seen so many of those in my town (little tiny town) and there’s just too many.” Uh no sis, you didn’t see any. Mine is a baby bronco killer!!!!!

 

[Grayjax]

I was in the camp of believing the Bronco Sport was here to stay.. but.. once the real Bronco hits the road and customers realized their stupid ass didn't get the real Bronco that their even dumber salesperson told them they were buying.. I think sales will dip. I seriously think this is an issue after an older gentlemen with a Bronco Sport at a gas station commented on my Tesla and said he had waited so long for the Bronco revival.. I asked him what his thoughts were on the big boy Bronco and if he intends to buy one.. he legit seemed confused. Sadly I think this is reality for a lot of people who bought these Broncos who had no idea when they hit the showroom.

 

[rugbysecondrow]

Most people have heard of Escape, and that's what it is. Ford sold over 300,000 of them each year from 14'-17'. The Bronco Sport will NEVER sell 300K per year. Too much competition. People seeing and talking about something that isn't what they think it is can back fire, Imho it already is. It's why we have this thread. Give it 2 to 3 years in a regular market. The Sport will fall flat on it's face. People are idiots for buying it because of it's name. It's a good vehicle, executed well. It's just never gonna be a Bronco (sport). Using your logic, maybe Ford should have called the Maverick an F-150 Sport for name recognition? What could go wrong there? A lot of complaining and people talking about it?

To your point, Ford created the Lightning, it's an f-150. They did it with the Evo Mustang, now they are doing it with the Bronco brand.

Your complaints are just so tired.

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