Ford resurrects the Bronco bus after 24 years

Washington. Ford launched the new generation of the Bronco model on Monday, 24 years after it stopped manufacturing the off-road vehicle, a fundamental vehicle for the brand’s economic future and with which it intends to compete with the king of off-road vehicles, Jeep.

But the vehicle will also be the first model of the Bronco sub-brand, specializing in tough off-road vehicles, a segment that Fiat Chrysler, through Jeep, has dominated for years and for which Ford now wants to compete given the great profitability of models like the Jeep Wrangler.

Also, Ford announced that the Bronco will have more than 200 accessories available through the brand’s dealers to personalize the vehicle. Accessories are one of the Jeep Wrangler’s great economic successes: On average, each unit of the model sold by Jeep is purchased with an extra $ 1,000 of accessories.

According to Credit Suisse, the Bronco family could add $ 1 billion to Ford’s operations if the manufacturer sells 125,000 units a year and makes a profit per vehicle of $ 7,500.

The new Bronco will be available in versions of two and, for the first time in the history of the model, four doors and with a new standard four-wheel drive that also has two options: a base 4×4 and an advanced 4×4.

Ford, which featured the vehicle online on its social media pages due to the COVID-19 pandemic, said the base price for the 2021 two-door Bronco will be $ 29,995, putting it in direct competition with the SUV. North America’s most popular Jeep Wrangler.

But the most equipped models in the Bronco family will exceed $ 60,000.

Ford began accepting reservations for the 2021 Bronco through its website and upon payment of $ 100. A total of 3,500 vehicles will be a special version labeled First Edition and priced at $ 60,800. The 2021 Bronco will have five versions: Big Bend, Black Diamond, Outer Banks, Wiltrak, and Badlands.

The vehicle, which will hit dealerships in spring 2021, will be available with either a 2.7-liter EcoBoost V6 engine producing 310 horsepower or a 2.3-liter EcoBoost 270 horsepower.

New for the 2021 Bronco is a seven-speed manual transmission. The vehicle may also be equipped with another 10-speed automatic transmission.

Jim Farley, Ford’s chief operating officer said in a statement that “we have created the Bronco family to elevate all aspects of off-road adventure and equipped it with a class-leading chassis and exclusive technologies that raise the bar in the 4×4 segment ”.

Another novelty of the Bronco is the modular character of the chassis which allows the removal of doors and roof and radically modify the appearance of the vehicle.

But Ford has not forgotten to nod to the past of the Bronco, a model that was launched in 1966 and which became one of the most longed for by fans.

The brand has called GOAT (Goes Over Any Type of Terrain or works on any type of terrain) the seven modes of the terrain management system. GOAT was the nickname of the first generation of the Bronco.

Technologically, the 2021 Bronco will feature the next generation of Ford’s infotainment system, Sync 4, which can be remotely upgraded without the need to go to dealerships and which will also equip the next generation pickup truck. “F-150 and Mustang Mach-E electric SUV.

The 2021 Bronco comes standard with an 8-inch center screen that can be upgraded with a 12-inch and an LCD instrument panel.