The return of long-awaited Ford Bronco and Ranger was verified last month. Given that the Bronco and Ranger will share a platform, it seems a lot like the throwback SUV will be constructed in Australia, which is where the present Ranger is engineered.
Australia’s Motoring notes that Ford Australia will lead development of the brand-new Bronco and Ranger, regardless of the fact that the Ford Bronco will be integrated in the U.S. The current-generation Ranger, which isn’t really sold in the U.S., was made by Ford Australia, and is constructed in Thailand, South America, and Argentina.
The brand-new Bronco will be a direct competitor to the wildly-popular Jeep Wrangler, so Ford apparently acquired two- and four-door Wrangler Rubicons for benchmarking criteria. It is expected that the brand-new Bronco will use a shortened variation of the Ranger’s platform, and mechanically, the two will be rather similar.
Presently, the Ranger utilizes four- and five-cylinder diesels, which are anticipated to be carried over, however Motoring anticipates the U.S.-market Bronco will get a gas-powered V6. Others likewise anticipate the Ranger will get an EcoBoost four-cylinder as an alternative, so we can expect that in the Bronco as well. The Bronco’s engines are going to be mated to a low-range transfer case and an option of manual or automatic transmissions. We’re hoping the manual comes to the United States.
The Bronco is expected to enter USA around 2019, perhaps for the 2020 model year, and for Ford it cannot come quickly enough. Thinking about Jeep will have a new Wrangler next year, with a pickup variation soon to follow, Ford has to get the Bronco and Ranger to market.
