Ford is said to be considering launching the Ford Ranger in the US, and bringing the Bronco back from the dead by basing it on the Ford Everest.
A BLOOMBERG report has suggested Ford is in discussions to begin assembling and selling the Ford Ranger in the US market after it ceases production of the Focus and C-Max in 2018 at its Michigan Assembly Plant near Detroit. If that’s true, then US car buyers still have a considerable wait – the Ranger is sold in 200 countries and was discontinued in the US back in 2011.
The report also suggested, and was quoting a source with knowledge of the talks, that Ford is also on the cusp of reviving the Ford Bronco which been dormant since 1996. A concept was shown in 2004 although the project was stillborn. Now, however, it seems that Ford is considering slapping the Bronco name onto the rump of the Australian-designed Ford Everest which is being built in Thailand and is being sold around the world.
The body-on-frame design of the Everest (pictured below) and its focus on rough-road ability would allow it to fill the boots of the Bronco easily and give Ford in the US a direct challenger to the likes of Jeep… the same rivalry that the Bronco enjoyed when it was first launched 50 years ago.
Ford’s truck group marketing manager, Doug Scott, has told the US press, the company is looking at building a ‘compact’ pick-up but has suggested the price would have to be different enough from the entry level F-150 to make it worthwhile.
“We think we could sell a compact truck that’s more like the size of the old Ranger, that gets six or eight more miles per gallon [than a full-size truck], is $5,000 or $6,000 less, and that we could build in the U.S. to avoid the tariff on imported trucks.”
Ford is currently in discussion with unions around moving Focus and C-Max production in 2018 from its Michigan plant, and could be discussing the possibility of building Everest (Bronco) and Ranger in their place.
Why not I say trouble is fords internal policies and prceedures around such things as internal dimensions have killed off or led to long drawn out product planning decision a lot of these thought bubbles dissapear or are that watered down as to make no sense.
Cut and shut the Everest architecture. Take a tougher looking ranger space cab front end behold I give you franken bronco . Give the marketing department enough wizfiz to dream up some funky colours and job done 6 months tops.