RE: 2020 Ford Bronco is 'Built Wild'
Discussion
MadmanO/T People said:
Ford were selling well over 200,000 Mexican-built Fusions (AKA Mondeo) annually when they announced they were killing their passenger cars in North America. If they can't make money selling hundreds of thousands of cars built with cheap Mexican labour then there is something seriously wrong going on at Ford!
Legacy costs. Their old pension scheme cost them over 2bn in q1 alone.MadmanO/T People said:
Funny thing is, this is EXACTLY Ford's approach in America: discontinue all of your passenger cars, even the ones that sell pretty well, to focus on high-profit-margin trucks and SUVs. I fail to see how ceding entire market segments to the Asian brands makes for a viable strategy.
"Sorry, Sir. We don't have any sensible cars for your commute to work. Here, have this $40,000 rock-crawling Jeep ripoff, instead!"
Over here, the market looks quite different to that description."Sorry, Sir. We don't have any sensible cars for your commute to work. Here, have this $40,000 rock-crawling Jeep ripoff, instead!"
To be clear: Ford US sell loads of passenger cars.
While Ford US has shifted away from traditional saloons, estates, and hatches, it now emphasises cars that look similar to those -- but that are taller.
The crossover segment is now some 45 percent of total US passenger car volume.
Ford is competitive there, along with numerous other brands, working hard to provide the particular type of passenger cars that US consumers most want.
PS: the following will soon be joined by the Mustang Mach-E .
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In the UK, Auto Express provides an introduction to Bronco and carwow compares it to Defender.
video here
https://youtu.be/RVyDwE2FnZE
and here
https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/ford/98238/new-2021-...
Head of Ford Australia: "No RHD Variant"
I had hoped to be wrong about this. A version in RHD would bring to Bronco a deeper, more colourful pool of users -- courtesy of Commonwealth countries.
To review:
PH user Beefmeister had explained that a business case for RHD might be in the works, within the Ford global enterprise. If successful, the business case would produce a RHD variant during a mid-cycle refresh in, say, two to three years.
Conversely, PH user oldtimer2 directed us to a video of the Bronco designer -- Britain's own Paul Wraith -- who says, among other things, that Bronco was conceived solely for North America.
Those comments, and a good number of related ones, can be seen earlier in this thread.
Now, however:
Ford Australia has recently acquired a new country manager -- and this person has gone further than his predecessor in stating that there will be no RHD Bronco.
A spokesperson for Ford Australia summarised the matter thus:
"...the lack of demand from other right-hand drive markets made the business case for RHD Bronco production impossible."
article
https://www.carsales.com.au/editorial/details/ford...
Okay, those quotes are all wonderful. But I personally know two engineers at Ford in the US who were still working on the RHD business case just this week. I spoke to them on WhatsApp yesterday and the Bronco came up. They were tasked with working on the projected costings for a RHD variant, but only with the upcoming hybrid drivetrain.
What the PR teams tell the world and what actually happens in OEMs are worlds apart.
What the PR teams tell the world and what actually happens in OEMs are worlds apart.
Thanks for those illuminating details. Interesting. Promising, even.
It makes for compelling reading that there is such an unequivocal position officially, whilst quite another position is known, by a connected few, to be in progress at the very same time.
Perhaps it's a case of plausible deniability: the head of Ford Australia is not necessarily incorrect to state that there is no RHD programme for Bronco. (as any such programme is still in the consideration phase and has not yet been accepted and approved for production)
PS: For those who read the Aussie article, linked today above, there is a glaring error. A virtual e-pint to the person who is able to cite said error.
In a dispatch likely to warm the hearts of those who cherish the farmer / sheep / hose it out school of 4x4 assessment...
...there is now the following news about Bronco:. . . "2021 Ford Bronco Has Ten Interior Drain Plugs To Help Drain Water"
. . . "...marine-grade vinyl-trimmed seats and rubberized flooring, which is easily washable with a hose. Ford also rubberized every switch and dial for added durability and protection."
article
https://www.motor1.com/news/446668/2021-ford-bronc...
RHD: THE SAGA CONTINUES
Just like the reliable presence of cliffhanger plots in old soap operas, we have yet more news, inconclusive statements, about the possibility that Bronco will be produced at the factory in RHD.
"Bronco is intensely famous here in the US, but it’s pretty famous, or at least it was famous, elsewhere in the world. We’re always open to do all sorts of things in the future, but right now, we’re left hand drive focused.”
. . . Paul Wraith
. . . Chief Designer of Bronco and Bronco Sport
Given that Mr Wraith was among the officials at Ford who recently explained that Bronco was conceived from the beginning solely as a USDM vehicle... and that no RHD variant would be forthcoming... The quote above seems to be a fairly significant volte-face.
Furthermore, the words "right now" are identical to those chosen by the newly-appointed country manager of Ford Australia -- when he all but avoided this topic by saying that (a) he's proud of what Ford has accomplished with Bronco, but (b) "right now" his team is required to focus on today's products and today's shoppers.
There is nothing unequivocal, nothing official. And we are not surprised by this, because... If Ford requires, say, another two to three years to launch a RHD Bronco, Ford will want today's shoppers to buy today's Fords. (and not to postpone their purchases)
article here
https://fordauthority.com/2020/10/ford-is-open-to-...
Build Your Own Bronco
The so-called "configurator" is now live on the Ford US site. Try the following link:
https://www.ford.com/suvs/bronco/2021/
The words "Build & Price" will appear on the right side of your screen. Click that.
You'll need to enter a postal / ZIP code. Consider using one of the following:
British Embassy, Washington, DC
20008
Pints Pub, Denver, CO
80204
You can build a Bronco using one of the six standard levels of trim. This includes the Big Bend trim, after the national park of the same name, which PH user Nomdujour quite amusingly rebranded as Big Bender.
The configurator also allows you to see a seventh level of trim, the First Edition vehicle. You will notice, however, that the bottom of its product summary says "Reservations Full" -- so there's nothing really to choose / save there.
related article
https://www.motortrend.com/news/2021-ford-bronco-o...
Let's hope that PH user Beefmeister is correct that a RHD variant will become available in a couple of years, perhaps with the usual mid-series refresh.
Even if sales volume (of RHD) would be small, the product could drive footfall at dealerships.
For me, the more interesting opportunity is that the Bronco world, if you will, becomes more diverse, more potentially interesting, when you add more countries.
It's been a couple of months now, since Ford confirmed that it is holding 165,000 reservations (at $100 a pop). Presumably this figure has grown.
Production will not begin until spring of 2021. There's a lot at stake here.
Will Ford bungle this? Slipshod assembly. Product recalls early on. Nobody wants to be the case study of how it all went to tears.
How friggin awesome does this look!!!!
This would be my ideal spec.... but ideal as in I wouldn't even want or need to do anything in the after market with it.
310hp
Nice interior
Well specced.
And look at it!!! OMG
Looks like a lifted modded rig. But it's all factory stock rolling on 35" mud terrains. Front/rear lockers, HD bumper, extra lights, rock rails. All the things you'd normally need to add after market.
Not sure if I could get the same'ish spec another way. This is a Big Bend with some select options. Which is one model up from Base spec.
Total is $48k
All I need now is some money.....
This would be my ideal spec.... but ideal as in I wouldn't even want or need to do anything in the after market with it.
310hp
Nice interior
Well specced.
And look at it!!! OMG
Looks like a lifted modded rig. But it's all factory stock rolling on 35" mud terrains. Front/rear lockers, HD bumper, extra lights, rock rails. All the things you'd normally need to add after market.
Not sure if I could get the same'ish spec another way. This is a Big Bend with some select options. Which is one model up from Base spec.
Total is $48k
All I need now is some money.....
That's an ideal blend of rugged and charm, your two-door choice, 300. The two-door has a certain sort of feeling about it -- like the off-road answer to a two-seat sports car.
Alrighty. So I've thought about what I would get. I realised that I'd be most likely to buy a used example. Should be even more value for money than the new.
As long as we're talking new, however, below is my selection at the moment. It's a Base Trim four-door, with considerable upgrades.
. . . Upgrade to V6 engine 310 hp / 400 lb-ft
. . . Add rock rails and upgraded bash plates
. . . Add upgraded bumper and winch
. . . Add air compressor
. . . Add overhead toggle switches for future accessories
. . . Add hardtop and hardtop soundproofing
. . . Add a second set of doors: tubular
The upgrade to V6 requires the 10-speed automatic (I'd have preferred to keep the manual, but there we are).
The colour I prefer most (the somewhat pastel hue of Cactus_Gray) is not available in Base Trim. Here I've chosen Oxford White as a nod to the classics.
RRP with Options and Accessories
$43,764
6% Sales Tax (Washington DC)
$2,626
Vehicle Registration (Washington DC)
$115
Total Cost (out the door)
$46,505 (£35,609)
.
.
If the normal Bronco isn't exciting enough, you can always try this....
https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a34532077/hennes...
https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a34532077/hennes...
thegrouch said:
If the normal Bronco isn't exciting enough, you can always try this....
https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a34532077/hennes...
"Hennessey Reveals Its 750-HP 2021 Ford Bronco VelociRaptor V8"https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a34532077/hennes...
The reveal a tuned version of a car that isn't even in pre-production status yet? The headline should be:
"Hennessey Reveals Its plans to maybe fit a 750-HP V8 to the 2021 Ford Bronco if it fits, sometime in 2022"
All part of the hype-building exercise. Coyote into Ranger has been done, so Predator into Bronco will be doable.
Must admit that the rendering 300 specced up on the configurator looks bloody fantastic. By contrast, I have tried to find stuff to like about the Pretender, convincing myself that I'm just out of touch, but I still cannot warm to it. If it was British-built, I might feel a tad differently...
If Ford can get the Bronco into RHD markets with a PHEV diesel, they would sell loads...
Must admit that the rendering 300 specced up on the configurator looks bloody fantastic. By contrast, I have tried to find stuff to like about the Pretender, convincing myself that I'm just out of touch, but I still cannot warm to it. If it was British-built, I might feel a tad differently...
If Ford can get the Bronco into RHD markets with a PHEV diesel, they would sell loads...
SEMA, the large trade show in Las Vegas, went virtual this year.
Below are Bronco and Bronco Sport concepts served up by Ford. From a SEMA-oriented web event.
article
https://www.autoblog.com/2020/11/20/ford-auto-nigh...
video
https://youtu.be/zxmT8e-agLs?t=580
At the video above is an hour-long programme in which Ford takes its customised Bronco concepts off road. Other customised and modified Ford vehicles are featured as well. For example: F-150 and Mustang Mach-E.
This is more branded entertainment than independent television, but worth a look nevertheless. The premise borrows loosely from TV shows about specialist garages and "custom builds".
Participants include people from a range of professions. Ford is obviously working to associate Bronco and Bronco Sport with lifestyle pursuits of interest to its target audience. Particularly those pursuits of the outdoors.
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