Not content to rest on their laurels after the Bronco outsold the Jeep Wrangler for the first time ever, reports indicate Ford are now aiming to take a slice out of Jeep Gladiator sales too. According to Automotive News, Ford is developing a pickup version of the Bronco that could arrive before the end of the decade, expanding the Bronco nameplate into an entire family of adventure vehicles.
The Bronco has become a major success since returning for the 2021 model year, and it’s clear Ford sees an opportunity to build on that success. The reported pickup would use the Bronco’s existing body on frame architecture and join the rest of the Bronco family at Ford’s Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne, Michigan. The factory currently builds the Bronco and Ranger, although Automotive News reports that Ranger production is expected to move to Ford’s Tennessee Truck Plant around 2029. That would create room in Michigan for the new Bronco pickup.
The basic formula is very well known, thanks to the modern Gladiator blazing the trail. Take the mechanical foundations of the current Bronco, stretch the rear portion into a pickup bed, and give buyers the same removable roof, removable doors, four wheel drive capability and extensive off road equipment that have made the SUV so popular. Just like Jeeps clever trick to reduce development, engineering and manufacturing costs, everything forward of the B-pillar (and possibly even the C-pillar) can be identical to the Bronco.
The Jeep Gladiator owns a segment all to itself—for now.
There is no question this new pickup would be a direct Gladiator competitor in exactly the same way the Bronco was designed and built to topple the Wrangler.
Power to the people
Powertrain details have not been reported, but the existing Bronco provides several clues. The current SUV offers a 2.3 liter turbocharged four cylinder producing 300 horsepower and a 2.7 liter twin turbo V6 producing 330 horsepower, with a 418 horsepower 3.0 liter twin turbo V6 available in the Raptor package.
A hybrid Bronco is reportedly coming for the 2028 model year (no EV on these shores yet), and that powertrain could eventually make its way into the pickup too. A Raptor version is a virtual certainty, given Ford wants to challenge the Gladiator Mojave and Rubicon while expanding the Bronco Raptor brand.
A question of price
Pricing is still pure speculation, but the truck would likely start above the equivalent Bronco SUV because of its additional hardware and cargo capability. A starting price in the mid $40,000 range seems plausible, with well equipped off road versions pushing beyond $60,000. The current Bronco starts around $43,000 for 2027, while the Raptor sits considerably higher.
There is also the possibility of a substantial options catalog. Sasquatch equipment, locking differentials, larger tires, upgraded suspension, roof racks, winches and factory camping accessories would all fit naturally into the Bronco pickup formula.
The success of the Gladiator in the overland industry is all the proof we need to know a Bronco pickup with all the off-road goodies is as close to a slam-dunk success as possible in the automotive world. The combination of an enclosed passenger compartment and an open cargo bed also solves a problem that many Gladiator owners already understand: there is only so much gear you want sharing space with the people inside the vehicle.
The possibility of a higher payload and removable bed open up a world of ute-style flatbeds and campers currently not possible with the SUV Bronco. The current Bronco has clearly proven that Ford can not only take on Jeep, but surpass them. It’s really only a matter of time until they follow that same success into another part of Jeep’s territory.
If the reported timeline holds, the Bronco pickup should arrive around 2029 or 2030. After years of speculation and one previously cancelled program, Ford may finally be preparing to give the Bronco a bed. It is unknown if Ford are planning both two and four door variants, or possibly even both.
This early in the program no official renders, sketches or prototypes have been made public, but that didn’t stop me asking ChatGPT for its thoughts on what a four door pickup Bronco might look like. Not surprisingly, in the same way a Gladiator looks like a longer Wrangler with a bed on the back, the Bronco pickup closely resembles the current SUV.
AI images by Dan Grec via ChatGPT.
Read More: The Ford Bronco EV You Can’t Have
Images: Ford, Jeep
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