2020 Bronco

Week before last, Ford Motor Company dropped the first hint at what the new ‘20 Bronco is going to be. At this point, it has been no secret that Ford is taking aim at Jeep’s throne of the off-road market. Ford has even publicly admitted that the Wrangler is their benchmark to beat, but details have remained slim on what will actually happen with the Bronco.

“Ford helped start the off-road phenomenon and has majored in off-road capability for decades–from the Bronco to the Raptor,” Ford’s Global Markets Chief Jim Farley said in a press release. “Now, we’re ready to reclaim our rightful place as the off-road vehicle leader.”

Look out, Jeep.

At this point, everything we know about the returning champion, is that it’s going to be built at Ford’s Warren Michigan Plant alongside the new T6 Ranger and will be a ladder-on-frame construction There has been much speculation that Ford will be using the Australian market Everest as a baseline, but as we can see from the photos, if that is even remotely the case, the frame might be the only thing shared.

From Ford’s photo, we can clearly see the boxy lines and an upright flat windshield, large wheel arches that are outside of the body for full width axles and an external tailgate-mounted spare tire. We can also see the edges of the body to see that the approach and departure angles mean serious business. Lastly, the wheelbase appears to show a two-door configuration, though slightly longer than the stance of the two-door Jeep Wrangler. This could be a longer cargo area, or simply a set of “suicide” type second doors like how the defunct FJ Cruiser sported.

Either way, Ford has done an amazing job keeping the new Bronco away from the prying eyes of the automotive paparazzi, and their engineers have not made a peep. The ‘20 Bronco is slated to go into production in the fall of 2019, which hopefully means a public release at the Detroit International Auto Show in January 2019.

All we know is that the most popular music types are R&B and electronic, workout gear has become fashion, the Hot Hatch rules the car market, and Ford, Toyota, General Motors, Dodge and Jeep are pulling out all the stops in the off-road market. What is it, 1985?