New Ford Bronco Crew-Cab Pickup Being Fast-Tracked To Take On The Jeep Gladiator: Report

Dave

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Ford is reportedly fast-tracking development of a pickup truck version of the 2021 Ford Bronco to take on the Jeep Gladiator and it’s expected to debut in the next four years, per JALOPNIK.

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I don't understand this. Ford already has a mid-size truck offering; Jeep didn't. Fix the things with the Ranger that people don't like. The adventure packages are a good start. If the Ranger had a better back seat in the crew cab I might've ended up with a Ranger instead of the Colorado we bought. I looked at the Gladiator, but its price is out of my league. The Bronco was a home run. Ford can cut into Jeep's market share with that, but a Bronco-truck just seems desperate attempt to be just like Jeep. They have their own storied lines that can stand on their own.
 
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I don't understand this. Ford already has a mid-size truck offering; Jeep didn't. Fix the things with the Ranger that people don't like. The adventure packages are a good start. If the Ranger had a better back seat in the crew cab I might've ended up with a Ranger instead of the Colorado we bought. I looked at the Gladiator, but its price is out of my league. The Bronco was a home run. Ford can cut into Jeep's market share with that, but a Bronco-truck just seems desperate attempt to be just like Jeep. They have their own storied lines that can stand on their own.

My thought is that they are going to try to address the issues with the Ranger but if it doesn't go anywhere. If people keep buying Colorados instead of Rangers because people's first impression of the Ranger wasn't so great. Why wouldn't they capitalize on the success of the Bronco.
 
The rollout of the Ranger, after a very long wait, was lukewarm at best. I still remember the first ones they brought out to Expo East with street tires and airhead “hot chicks” manning their booth and driving course. Totally missed their demographic there and left most of us underwhelmed.

No doubt they learned from this and other instances so they will likely do a better job with Bronco.

But a truck version of the Bronco may be good. Maybe they’ll be more willing to give it full factory off road chops than they have been with Ranger. Maybe that’s the strategy, Bronco platforms for off road and Ranger for pavement?
 
I forgot about the Expo East rollover.

My phone auto filled in the word "rollover". I started to correct it to "rollout" but stopped because it works.

It was an unannounced surprise visit by Ford at Overland Expo East allowing anyone to drive the Ranger. Most media hadn't even gotten a chance to do that yet. The reps couldn't even answer the most basic technical questions. Then they had to shut it down because the trucks with their street tires couldn't handle the mud.
 
Don't forget Ford has test mules out on the street for the Ford Maverick...a truck smaller than the Ranger. o_O

Ford has lost their way...The Lincoln luxury line is dead, no one sees it as a competitor to the European or Asian luxury brands. Ford's stranglehold on fleet vehicles has slowly been eroded by the other two major domestic players. Their entry level vehicles are trying to compete with cheaper imports that offer more in the way of features (maybe not quality, but certainly in upfront features).

If they didn't have the F150 and it's die hard fan base they'd be dead in the water in my opinion. They need to leverage what they do well, which is trucks and truck based SUVs (not cross overs) and focus on that hard. Make dependable, well built and competitively priced work trucks, continue to offer upgraded "luxury" versions of the F-series trucks for all those Americans who want a truck with heated massaging seats, and then build on that. The offroad/overlanding/car camping market is only going to expand. They should absolutely take whatever market share they can from Jeep, and they should establish that foothold quickly before Chevy catches on and brings back a real Blazer instead of the hybrid Camaro front end cross over thing they're producing.

On top of that they need to win with the electric F150 and Transit van. Producing those vehicle's isn't going to be enough. They need to step up and be an industry leader and take on Tesla head on: push the limits of electric range, invest in new battery technologies, partner with a third party vendor and roll out a charging infrastructure...don't try to take that on alone. Once they're successful and they have that infrastructure then roll that technology out across their other models.
 
I forgot about the Expo East rollover.

My phone auto filled in the word "rollover". I started to correct it to "rollout" but stopped because it works.

It was an unannounced surprise visit by Ford at Overland Expo East allowing anyone to drive the Ranger. Most media hadn't even gotten a chance to do that yet. The reps couldn't even answer the most basic technical questions. Then they had to shut it down because the trucks with their street tires couldn't handle the mud.

Meanwhile the Colorado was over at CBI looking like this.
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I wouldn't mind Ford coming back to Expo East with a Bronco for a rematch.
 
The Lincoln luxury line is dead
Lots of Lincolns here in Ford Country (several plants in the area) but probably all employees or dependents getting big discounts.

Maybe a 2-door Bronco would be a hit, but the rendering's I've seen are a tiny bed and look like toys. Maverick is a Honda Ridgeline lookalike, and that name should never be on a trucklet.

I think there would be a market for a small single-cab pickup in the vein of the '70s Datsun and Toyota trucks that created the small truck market. Hell, the current Ranger is a bigger truck than my '97 F-150!

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Don't forget Ford has test mules out on the street for the Ford Maverick...a truck smaller than the Ranger. o_O

Ford has lost their way...

The only revived namesake vehicles I've been impressed with lately has been the Bronco. Now, if Chevy were to revive the El Camino line, or Ford the El Ranchero - and it's a perfect time to do it with the resurgence of the mullet and all - I'd sell a kidney or maybe even a kid. I'm pretty sure the El Camino with a topper would be OAF, and gram-worthy.

I think the 2022 Raptor Ranger would be a significant improvement. From what I've seen, it's price would be right between the ZR2 and the Gladiator.
 
The only revived namesake vehicles I've been impressed with lately has been the Bronco. Now, if Chevy were to revive the El Camino line, or Ford the El Ranchero - and it's a perfect time to do it with the resurgence of the mullet and all - I'd sell a kidney or maybe even a kid. I'm pretty sure the El Camino with a topper would be OAF, and gram-worthy.

I think the 2022 Raptor Ranger would be a significant improvement. From what I've seen, it's price would be right between the ZR2 and the Gladiator.

Australian Ford Falcon UTE is probably the closest we'll ever see... and the Hilux killed it off down under.

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Sweet Jesus, what an abomination.

You would prefer the homebrew Muskrat?

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Subaru made the last good looking "car with a truck bed".

Back on the topic of a Bronco based truck there are rumors that the FCA family will bring back the Dakota. This would cause the same internal market erosion that Ford is proposing: Ranger vs Bronco truck and Dakota vs Gladiator. If they can find a way to make it profitable I'm sure there's folks out there that would buy it. After all, the Pontiac Aztec was around for 4 entire years...

If they were smart the Ranger would focus on being the go to for tradesmen who don't need full size and the Bronco based truck would target Gladiator shoppers.
 
I think I'm one of the half-dozen people in the US that actually likes the Ranger. My stable is too full to do anything about it, but I drove the diesel version for a couple weeks in Africa came away impressed. I had booked a 70-series Landcruiser and was more than a little irritated when they handed me the keys to the Ranger. I really didn't want to like it, but it was a great truck. No idea about long term durability, but in real world use, particularly in handling at max GVWR, it was actually much better than the 70-series. If I was shopping for a midsize truck, that's probably where I would end up.
 
I think I'm one of the half-dozen people in the US that actually likes the Ranger. My stable is too full to do anything about it, but I drove the diesel version for a couple weeks in Africa came away impressed. I had booked a 70-series Landcruiser and was more than a little irritated when they handed me the keys to the Ranger. I really didn't want to like it, but it was a great truck. No idea about long term durability, but in real world use, particularly in handling at max GVWR, it was actually much better than the 70-series. If I was shopping for a midsize truck, that's probably where I would end up.

I wonder if the specs are the same on the African model versus what I can buy in the US?
 
Seems like Ford is paying attention to some of the smaller details on these new vehicles and actually looking at how the end user actually uses the vehicle. Case in point, the tailgate flood light on the Bronco Sport appears like it's actually usable at camp.

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I wonder if the specs are the same on the African model versus what I can buy in the US?

We'll never get the choice of two diesels.

Payloads on the US versions are about 800lbs lower, but appear to have the same axles, wheel bearings and brakes. So I am assuming, that the big difference is lower spring rates to keep our sensitive American bottoms from noticing the truck like ride. But who on this board leaves their suspension stock?
 
Is it going to be an actual "truck" and therefore compete/dilute with the Ranger? Is it going to be a next-gen Ranger? Or is it going to be a Brat/Avalanche/Sportrac faux-truck?

I've heard rumors the next-gen Ranger will be on the Bronco platform. So that makes sense. I just can't see a faux-truck like an Avalanche on a Bronco chassis being that popular.
 
Australian Ford Falcon UTE is probably the closest we'll ever see... and the Hilux killed it off down under.

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Actually got a ride in one of these when I was in Australia. Also saw a couple of them with flatbeds. Road just like a car. Couldn't tell the difference. I asked why he got it instead of a truck. He said 90% of the time he needs a car but today he was picking up a motorcycle engine.
 
The only revived namesake vehicles I've been impressed with lately has been the Bronco. Now, if Chevy were to revive the El Camino line, or Ford the El Ranchero - and it's a perfect time to do it with the resurgence of the mullet and all - I'd sell a kidney or maybe even a kid. I'm pretty sure the El Camino with a topper would be OAF, and gram-worthy.

I think the 2022 Raptor Ranger would be a significant improvement. From what I've seen, it's price would be right between the ZR2 and the Gladiator.

Do you remember a few years ago when Expo East was in Asheville? I believe it was Toyota that had a pretty good obstacle course that you could take their Taco’s on.

With all this competition I think it would be great if in an upcoming Expo we were able to drive a stock version of the following:

Jeep JLUR Rubicon
Jeep Gladiator Rubicon
Toyota Tacoma ...what ever their top off-road version is called
Chevy Colorado ZR2
Land Rover‘s best candidate
Ford Bronco Sasquatch
Ford Ranger Raptor

and anything else that would be competitive.. I’m sure most manufacturers would not go for it but it would be great real world marketing for whomever came out on top..
 
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