As officials from Ford and the UAW continue to hammer out the details of their latest labor contract, a few details regarding future Ford products have begun to bubble to the surface. As we’ve previously reported, Ford will move production of the Focus and C-Max from it’s Michigan Assembly facility in 2018, leaving a hole that, according to both the Detroit Free Press and Automotive News, will be filled with production of a couple of familiar nameplates: Bronco and Ranger.
Although Ford pulled the plug on the domestic Ranger back in 2011 after nearly 30 years of production, a modernized Ranger continues to sell overseas in markets where small pickups are preferred. Ford has long maintained that the current Global Ranger is too close in dimensions to its full-size F-Series trucks to make a business case for its return, but two recent developments could cause Ford to revisit the decision. First, the new GMC Canyon and Chevrolet Colorado mid-sized trucks have been a runaway success, with GM officials telling C/D that demand has surpassed their estimates. Second, the new, aluminum-bodied F-150 is a very modern vehicle, and while its success is undeniable, there are likely plenty of buyers–think fleets and service industries–whose needs could be easily met with a slightly smaller and (presumably) less expensive vehicle like the Ranger.
The details regarding Bronco, another beloved and storied nameplate form Ford’s recent past, aren’t as clear. Traditionally built on the same chassis as the F-150 pickup, the previous, full-size Bronco bowed out in 1996, its full-size, two-door configuration outmoded by the Explorer on one side and the Expedition on the other. Since then, Ford has toyed with the Bronco idea on several occasions, offering a sweet Bronco concept in 2004 and more recently with the rough and ready Troller T4 SUV produced by Ford-owned Troller for the Brazilian market.
Seeing as the current unnamed sources indicate the Bronco would be built alongside the Ranger, it’s entirely feasible that the new Bronco would be derived from the new Ranger, essentially revisiting the formula that brought us the Ranger-based Bronco II that Ford sold from 1983-1990. The public’s love of the full-size Bronco is a strong and irrational one, however, (one fan’s desire for a modern Bronco was so strong he created his own by mounting a vintage Bronco body on contemporary Raptor running gear), and the idea of an aluminum-bodied, two-door SUV is an intriguing one. (As a side note, Ford’s Wayne Assembly plant was home to the Bronco when it got axed in 1996.) The question is, would buyers pay for what would essentially amount to a two-door Expedition?
However Ford decides to play it, the reports say the Ranger will go into production first, with the Bronco following shortly thereafter, and no later than 2020.
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