Raj Nair: New Bronco Will Live Up To Its Heritage; Be "Different" Than The Ford Everest

[Tour18]

If his quotation is correct, the difference between the Everest and Bronco; "It’ll be an incremental vehicle from the Everest." I'm reading that as a Breverest, nothing like the renderings we have all fallen in love with. I can only wish that I'm utterly wrong. But I simply don't trust 'Global' marketing to give us what we want.

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[mustangfanatic]

If this happens, Unfortunately it would Price a lot of people out of the Market. Prices would be 10k over sticker "what ever sticker ends up being." Look at the new Raptors now. Around these parts they want nearly 90K almost 20K over sticker.
I've Personally never paid Sticker price or above for any Vehicle, however there's always a first time for everything. If they make it look like this rendering, I'm in deep Shit!

Agree Bob, it will price a lot of people out of the market at least initially but if you are patient, you can get one at sticker or less. It took me nearly two years to obtain a GT350 at sticker but I finally managed it on a 2017 about 6 months ago. I love my GT350 but I refuse to pay ridiculous dealer ADM's even to obtain a truly great car. Bottom line is that patience is rewarded in these situations.

 

[blksn8k]

The current T6 Ranger has been on the market since about the time we lost ours. That means it is due for a redesign in all markets, not just for North America. The question is going to be will Ford make the next Ranger wider than the current T6? The reason to do that would be to better compete with the GM midsize twins in the US market since they are a couple of inches wider and have slightly more interior space than the T6.

However, the current T6 is slightly smaller because that size works better in the markets where it is currently sold, which is basically everywhere but the US and Canada. The best scenario would be to make the Ranger wider for all markets assuming that is acceptable in its current markets. That way Ford would be able to match the competition and be better able to share most of the parts between the existing plants in Thailand, South Africa and Argentina and the converted Michigan Assembly Plant (MAP) in Wayne, MI.

GM has taken a different approach and actually builds two different Colorados, the Chevy (and GMC Canyon) for North America and the Holden Colorado for all other markets. Toyota does the same thing with the Tacoma here and the Hilux everywhere else. Ford could choose to do something similar but it doesn't sound very efficient and Nair seemed to be saying that the NA version would have a different front clip which implies that the rest of the body would be the same as everywhere else. So the question is, again, does it get wider or not?

 

[blksn8k]

When I lived in Ohio there was a local guy who made a business out of mounting Bronco II bodies on 1st gen Bronco frames. They must have been pretty close to the same size. The 1st gen bodies rusted away pretty quickly in this part of the world but the frame, suspension and drivetrain were much stronger than the Bronco II stuff.

Edit: I just googled it, the 1st gen had a 92" wheelbase and the Bronco II's was 94". I would have guessed just the opposite. LOL!

 

[Bronco_CA]

If his quotation is correct, the difference between the Everest and Bronco; "It’ll be an incremental vehicle from the Everest." I'm reading that as a Breverest, nothing like the renderings we have all fallen in love with. I can only wish that I'm utterly wrong. But I simply don't trust 'Global' marketing to give us what we want.

"Breverest" as you explain would mean exactly what Nair said the Bronco won't be. The Wrangler is an incremental vehicle from the Grand Cherokee in terms of capability. I don't see anything to be worried about.

 

[Tour18]

"Breverest" as you explain would mean exactly what Nair said the Bronco won't be. The Wrangler is an incremental vehicle from the Grand Cherokee in terms of capability. I don't see anything to be worried about.

Man, I hope you are wrong. I would gladly be wrong. But an incremental vehicle from the Everest is nothing like a Bronco. 'Incremental' is his description not mine. But like I said, I would be silly glad to be wrong and have a new Bronco. Just sayin'...

 

[Tour18]

"Breverest" as you explain would mean exactly what Nair said the Bronco won't be. The Wrangler is an incremental vehicle from the Grand Cherokee in terms of capability. I don't see anything to be worried about.

Bronco_CA, in fact I WANT to be wrong. Believe me, I don't want to be even a little bit right...

 

[mustangfanatic]

After giving the various aspects of the 2020 Bronco a lot of thought, I have reached my "final" (subject to change at any time) conclusions.

If Ford cannot build a vehicle worthy of the nameplate, the Bronco legacy and offer a truly exceptional OFF ROAD vehicle to compete head to head with the Wrangler, then Ford, don't bother.

My current must-haves for the new Bronco:

• Styling: Aggressive, needs to have styling cues from the first generation - it needs to look like a Bronco, not an Everest, an Explorer or a 4Runner. It needs to look like the renderings on this site.
• Body Style: While I would love to see both a 2 door and 4 door offered, let's face the economics, the 4 door Wrangler sells faster than they can make them, therefore having a 4 door model is required. Having said that, I would like to see Ford offer a limited production 2 door "Baja" model for serious off-roading. No carpet, no sound insulation, aggressive Raptor style suspension. Something loud and uncivilized, not for soccer moms.
• Axles: Solid axles, front and rear. The Bronco needs to be a serious off road piece and it cannot compete without a solid front axle. If buyers want a smooth riding SUV with independent front suspension, buy an Explorer or similar.
• Removable Top: The Bronco needs removable top and soft top availability. Open air motoring is part of the "Jeep" experience and appeal and is part of the Bronco legacy.

 

[Hack]

Raptor doesn't have solid front axles. I think wanting the suspension to be like the Raptor's and having the axles be solid are mutually exclusive.

 

[blksn8k]

Here's a thought, why not build the Bronco with a capable IFS (similar to Raptor's) and then, for the really hard core off-road buyers, offer a solid front axle retrofit kit through Ford Performance.
It would be similar to what Ford does for the Mustang. You can buy heavy duty rear axle half shafts from Ford Performance for those who want to drag race their Mustang. And I suppose for the really serious drag racers they could even swap in the 9" solid rear axle setup from the factory Cobra Jet Mustang drag cars.

 

[mustangfanatic]

Raptor doesn't have solid front axles. I think wanting the suspension to be like the Raptor's and having the axles be solid are mutually exclusive.

I was simply saying the suspension be aggressive as a Raptor, not functionally like the Raptors. I certainly should have used a better analogy

 

[mustangfanatic]

Here's a thought, why not build the Bronco with a capable IFS (similar to Raptor's) and then, for the really hard core off-road buyers, offer a solid front axle retrofit kit through Ford Performance.
It would be similar to what Ford does for the Mustang. You can buy heavy duty rear axle half shafts from Ford Performance for those who want to drag race their Mustang. And I suppose for the really serious drag racers they could even swap in the 9" solid rear axle setup from the factory Cobra Jet Mustang drag cars.

Certainly an option and a viable idea. However, to keep development costs down, it would seem to make more sense to have the Bronco come with a solid axle from the factory.

 

[blksn8k]

Unfortunately, there may not be enough demand from the serious off-roaders to justify a solid front axle. I get it that the Wrangler has one but I'm not so sure Ford will be luring enough Wrangler sales away from Jeep either.
Because they are planning to use the Ranger chassis for the Bronco I also doubt they would put anything but IFS under the truck version which means you would have to design two separate setups, one for the Bronco and another for the Ranger.
Now if they were to build a serious off-road version of the Ranger perhaps they could share a soild axle with that and be better able to justify the cost. You could say the same thing about a Raptor style IFS.
Then again, the same retrofit kit could be made to fit the Ranger as well. If they went with the kit idea they would also be making more money since they would be making two separate sales. You sell the vehicle first and then you sell the hard-core guys the kit. Kinda like Mopar did with the Ram Runner kits.

 

[mustangfanatic]

Certainly offering a solid axle conversion through Ford Performance could be a viable option if it would apply to both the Bronco and Ranger platforms, that broadens the appeal and justifies the development cost although I would believe that far fewer Ranger owners would utilize such a conversion than Bronco owners.

The counter point to your statement that there might not be enough demand from serious off-roaders to justify a solid axle, I would submit the Jeep Wrangler. Does anyone think all of the Wranglers sold are destined for serious off-roading? No. The majority are sold to individuals who desire off-road capability even if they never use it, they want to look the part even if they do not really engage in the activity. The Bronco should be a serious off road vehicle designed to compete head to head with the Wrangler and those who purchase them, both the serious off-roaders and the posers. Anything else will be a travesty to the Bronco nameplate and Ford should just leave that horse in the stall if it cannot run with the competition.

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