New Bronco Won’t Be a Rebadged Everest

Ford’s Own Raj Nair Puts Enthusiasts’ Fears to Rest Regarding New Bronco’s Design

A lot of people were understandably upset after an unofficial Reddit AMA claimed that the forthcoming new Bronco was set to become nothing more than a “rebadged Everest.” It’s crushing news, even though the Everest is a pretty capable off roader and body on frame vehicle. But like we always love to remind people, don’t believe everything you read on the Internet.

Thankfully, Ford Executive Vice President Raj Nair squashed the rumors with a little clarification. He addressed the Bronco with Autoline Detroit‘s John McElroy. McElroy specifically asked if the new Bronco would simply be a North American version of the Everest.

“No, it’s a separate vehicle. It will be an incremental vehicle from the Everest,” Nair told McElroy. “The Everest kind of serves a lot of off-road capability; maybe the space of the Explorer serves here in the U.S., but with a body-on-frame construction with a lot more off-road capability for the rest of the world. This Bronco is completely unique from that Everest. It is body-on-frame and so again, focusing on that off-road capability.”

So both the Everest and Bronco will be based on the global Ranger platform. But it seems the Bronco will feature unique bodywork at the very least. We’re guessing that Ford will appease fans with a modern interpretation of various classic Bronco styling cues. But will the new Bronco be closer in size to the compact original, or the full size version? According to Nair, more like somewhere in between.

“This new Bronco will be based off the Ranger platform and so it’s going to be a similarly sized vehicle to what you see in the Ranger. Now, for our American customers who have never seen that global Ranger, it’s a bit bigger than the Ranger we used to have here in the U.S., so I would say it’s kind of in-between in what you saw with that really big Bronco [the 1992-1996 model], and then the smaller Bronco [1966-1977].”

So there you have it, Bronco fans. You can put away those torches and pitchforks — at least for now.

Brett Foote

Brett Foote has been covering the automotive industry for over five years and is a longtime contributor to Internet Brands’ Auto Group sites, including Chevrolet Forum, Rennlist, and Ford Truck Enthusiasts, among other popular sites.

He has been an automotive enthusiast since the day he came into this world and rode home from the hospital in a first-gen Mustang, and he's been wrenching on them nearly as long.

In addition to his expertise writing about cars, trucks, motorcycles, and every other type of automobile, Brett had spent several years running parts for local auto dealerships.

You can follow along with his builds and various automotive shenanigans on Instagram: @bfoote.