At long last, Ford is reviving the Bronco. After teasing small truck lovers and brand devotees with the sublime
2004 NAIAS concept vehicle shown above, it would appear that the Blue Oval has relented, and is now set to revive the
storied nameplate.
According to Edmund’s Inside Line, the rough-and-tumble offering will be screwed together in Mexico using
engineering from Mazda of Japan and Ford of Europe. The model will have a production twin under the skin as well, in
the form of a sub-Focus five-door hatchback.
In news that will give hard-core offroaders reason for pause, the Bronco will be built on Ford’s current Fiesta
subcompact’s mechanicals (a replacement chassis is already under development, but the Bronco will get today’s greasy
bits due to cost issues) in Ford’s Cuautitlán factory, which presently builds the Latin-American market Ikon
sedan (which is likewise Fiesta-based). For reference, the auto show star of 2004 was based on Ford’s Fiesta-based
EcoSport crossover.
The good news? Ford feels that it can bring it all to market for under $10,000 in an effort to burnish the Blue
Oval with a little of Scion’s swagger.
So… is Ford making a mistake by recasting the storied Bronco brand as a softroader, or will a discount price
and retro-studded strutter bring in big dividends for Dearborn?Â