The rumor mill has been spinning for a minute now on exactly what the 2020 Ford Bronco will entail. We mentioned back in February that an agreement between Ford and the United Automobile Workers union last fall included language pointing to sixth-generation Broncos starting to roll off the line at Michigan Assembly Plant in 2020.
But thanks to the sleuths over at Gear Patrol and one rogue anonymous engineer source from inside Ford, we now know more. Including the fact that it’s starting at a reasonable $30,000.
It has been unofficially stated that the 2020 Bronco will be a 4-door SUV built off of the forthcoming 2019 Ranger truck. It’ll be packing a 2.7-liter EcoBoost V-6 with a very respectable 325 horsepower and 375 lb-ft of torque capable of the meaty off-road ability to best up to 19.5 inches of water.
The design is apparently in its third iteration, which isn’t uncommon for new rides, , revivals. The team had not been game for the previous two designs as they looked “too much like the Wrangler.” And there won’t be a two-door version because they don’t think they’ll be able to move ‘em. The source went on to say, “If you’re familiar with the Ford Troller, out of Brazil, that’s the basic concept, but it’ll look like a four-door version of that.”
But here’s the not-so-fun part: The engineer also said that the future Bronco isn’t being designed to be a true blue all-terrain destroyer. Instead, it’s going to be a comfortable, family car peppered with some off-road paraphernalia here and there. While that sounds a touch like a trip down nostalgia lane targeted at the Target shoppers and Applebee’s eaters to us, we’ll still wait like puppies at the door for even a drop more intel.
Still, we won’t hold our breath, because Gear Patrol’s source also let on that Ford is dealing with some serious “paralysis by analysis,” which is just another way of saying “too many cooks in the kitchen.”
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