Ok I'm gonna call it... this is what the new Bronco will be more or less... not counting a facelift for the 2020 season.

 

Well Conanski I sure hope you are wrong! They would probably sell well the first year just based on name recognition, but like the Mustang II sales would nose dive thereafter! The Bronco needs to be something different than the cookie cutter SUV that just happens to have four wheel drive.

 

Not too many cookie cutter 4WD SUV's in that size range with separate body/frame construction and true off-road cred... I can count the 4Runner on 1 finger.

Worrying about vehicle looks and not function is something I've gotten over as I get older.

Front clip will likely be more like the Ranger with the solid bumper, and I'm guessing the new Bronco *will* have some additional styling cues (maybe even a removable roof panel), but it will necessarily be based on the Everest as we've known all along.

But you ain't gonna do this in a new Explorer (and note the lack of serious tires on the Everest):

 

Me too.. LOL. I don't mind the looks of the Everest at all.. it looks good IMO but that SUV will get lost in a mall parking lot among the thousands of others that all look similar, and it will take exactly ZERO market share away from Jeep.

 

I don't think the '78-96 Bronco took any Jeep CJ/Wrangler sales away either and the '66-77 Bronco sold like 20k units per year and that might have legitimately hit Jeep a bit. We'll see if Ford does any styling tricks to toughen up the Everest looks--I would personally prefer it to be more truck-looking but am more interested in the capabilities.

The Jeep remains alone in a market that mfrs tried to hit with everything from Suzuki Samurais to Hummers. One of the first words my son learned when he was 1 year old was "Jeep"...

Although I mentioned the 4Runner as the only target, taking sales away from the Grand Cherokee (a unit body but with some offroad cred) would also be a good target. But Ford will inevitably hit their own Explorer base as well.

 

Guys here keep talking about solid axles, removable top, and a V8. All that and a short wheelbase has come to symbolize the ideal offroad weapon in most purists minds but I don't see that selling to the wider market, what makes a truck great offroad also makes it a terrible street and highway ride so honestly I'd be amazed if Ford delivered something like that. So if we're not going to get the equipment could we at least get something that looks like a classic Bronco.. like some of the prototypes that have been circulated? All the retro styled vehicles the manufacturers have produced have been big hits and this could be another one, but if they make us wait all this time and deliver nothing more than an Everest with a different grill and bumper it will be a big letdown.

Funny you mention the Suzuki, I have seen one of those things embarrass a bone stock CJ offroad. People always slag on IFS vehicles for their lack of articulation but a classic Jeep really doesn't become any good at all until the suspension is liberated of all it's on-road restrictions.

 

Retro styling can also flop bigtime. I remember the PT Cruiser selling for more than list price at its intro and eventually turning into a senior citizen mobile and cheap beater. (My wife worked in TV and filmed the designer for a feature show from the back seat when he was a big hero in the early days.)

Likewise the Chevy HHR and SSR were belly flops. How about that Plymouth Prowler? Understandably these vehicles all were flawed in other ways, but retro styling is not gonna make a vehicle unless it hits a "sweet spot" with both us old guys and Millenials as well...and the latter group was raised on souped up Civics and drifting machines...

The reintroduced VW Beetle was a giant excitement maker when it was introduced and turned into a girly car. Mini Cooper maybe? The pony cars are doing OK with their retro styling throwbacks. (I know the GM designer that did the 3-lump Camaro dashboard because he worked in his dad's car wash as a kid and remembered the 3 lumps on Camaro dashes.)

So retro styling alone is no formula for success. The Wrangler is an icon and somehow transcends most everything else. Maybe because it was not a "reintroduced" retro vehicle but because it was always there with its retro looks which gives it permanence and real credibility. It's not a new vehicle made to look old; it's a Jeep that looks like Jeeps going back to WWII.

Bronco has some cred in its name but no *one* retro look. The '66 with stock wheels and tires looks like a dorky Falcon with a lift kit. The '78-79 is my favorite but the proportions are not gonna fit on an Everest base. And it was only made for 2 years. After '79, it was just a sawed off F100/F150...

 

WOW! Bronco (Everest) tackles 6" deep mud puddle, with help of snorkel kit! I simply must have one complete with Ford Performance floor mats!

Okay... Maybe I should watch the video first. LOL!

Honestly though - YoGoerge... Why do I care if it has a frame if it sits all of 5" off the ground? A Top Fuel Funny Car has a frame - doesn't make it a off roader! I don't see that vehicle EVER having "true off-road cred". Could it even tackle a 6" tall "boulder"? LOL!

Okay, now that I'm done talking smack...off to watch the video.

 

YoGeorge - I realize this might be the perfect vehicle for you, but as a multiple generation Bronco owner - that's not going to fly for most enthusiasts. That thing would be eaten alive off-road by a first generation Explorer, much less a Bronco!

Nice vehicle I'm sure, but a Bronco???

 

I think the enthusiast market you speak of is pretty small and is not gonna spend $40k on brand new Everest/Broncos or Wranglers and bash them off boulders or stick them in mud holes, unless they are in the top 1%...

I think the real enthusiast market is better served by modified older trucks with less electronics, lifts, big mudder tires, larger displacement engines, lockers, etc.

The high school girls in my neighborhood rarely take their Wranglers off-road...and the Raptors I see in the Detroit area rarely do any desert racing.

I did find a ground clearance spec of about 9" and water fording depth spec of 800 mm, which is like 31", for the Everest.

Good discussion and I understand where you're coming from, but Ford is in the biz of selling large numbers of vehicles and making profits, not serving hard core enthusiasts unless that hard core group is really large and buys lots of new vehicles.

 

I missed an icon...I was looking at the Detroit Auto Show in the local paper, and Mercedes is launching a new version of their G series wagon, a military-spec 4x4.

These are what the rich posers and drug dealers drive these days, with giant chrome wheels and rubber band tires, but they have serious off road cred, especially in the "4x4" version which starts at $227k. The base model is also 4WD and starts at "only" $123k. Cool stuff like push button locks on center, rear, and front differentials. And 400+ horsepower turbo V8's.

https://www.mbusa.com/mercedes/vehic.../bodystyle-SUV

 

Was it Ford that mentioned "Wrangler competitor"? If it was and then the above Everest is their perceived solution, then FoMoCo is doing damage to their company. What I am seeing is NOT a "competitor" to a Wrangler, and to state that it is shows they don't understand the market. Ford Motor Company should know better, and I really hope they do! They flat cleaned house a couple of months ago and I really don't know what that means, but I hope they continue to make trucks and cars that BUILD THE BRAND!

 

Conanski As much as I hope your are wrong, I think you are 100% right.

The Everest(bronco) looks like a suburb outback with a mild lift

 

But that is EXACTLY the market the Ford guy said they were going after with the "new" bronco was the wrangler

 

It was until Ford couldn't make something to compete with the wrangler. There's an article linked in another thread and they now claim it's going to compete with the cherokee.
Which means it will now offer a marginal off road performance improvement over an all-wheel drive Fusion.