Why Ford’s new Bronco Family is exactly what we wanted.
It’s been a couple of weeks since the release of arguably the most anticipated vehicle of the year and my new feeds won’t stop with new and exciting pictures, colors, and even some altered renderings of the, not soon enough to come, 2021 Ford Bronco and Bronco Sport. For over three years we have anxiously awaited it’s arrival and I can say with certainty that my expectations were completely met.
Well done #FoMoCo, well done.
We won’t know for a while what the initial count of deposits are, and it will be weeks or months before we begin to hear what other journalists think about the design, the technology, the six+1 manual gearbox option, and a 310hp, 400ft-lbs of torque, twin-turbo V6, but one thing in particular I believe Ford nailed is the “i” in “lifestyle”.
They listened! They may have spent seemingly forever designing, refining, and solidifying what we now know as the Bronco 2 Door and Bronco 4 Door, but they did it with the consumer in mind. They listened to the miles of blog posts about nostalgia, and removable roofs, and off- road “Goes Over Any Terrain” capability (albeit mostly ignoring those of you begging for two more cylinders). Even in the Sport they made sure to include many options for cargo versatility and space, and added a rear locker and G.O.A.T. modes to insure it’s capability on and off-road.
Probably the most important aspect of this release is the two day off road experience that comes with each Bronco and Bronco Sport (Badlands package only for the Sport) dubbed the “Bronco Off-Roadeo”. It’s a unique opportunity to learn your vehicle, off road techniques, and get to know more Bronco enthusiasts with the hope of quickly growing the brand following. This has to be a make or break experience for Ford due to the 20+ year hiatus of the Bronco. In essence an entire generation who have never known a “new” Bronco, and in turn, need ways to connect with each other and their new vehicle.
The Bronco is no longer that all white, full-size SUV being followed by a dozen police cars down the highway. Neither is it the small “farm-hand” bouncing around the pastures out west. It’s a lifestyle family of SUV’s with a lot of catching up to do. Even on the day of the release FCA (Now Stellantis) began dumping images and videos of upcoming Wrangler variants and concepts in the hopes of stepping on some toes of the competition. Not to be outdone FoMoCo fired back, and in many ways jumped right back in the middle of a 50 year rivalry with both guns blazing.
-Sidestep