Ford Bronco to get uted

The new three-member Ford Bronco family looks set to expand with the addition of a ute.

According to Ford sources tapped by

We’ve already seen speculative renders of a ‘baby’ Bronco ute based on the smaller, less capable Ford Bronco Sport SUV. But this latest report refers to the bigger, Ford Ranger-based Bronco, making it a direct competitor for the Jeep Gladiator ute.

'Baby' Ford Bronco ute

The report reckons there are factions within Ford trying to fast-track development of the vehicle, which would be powered by the same 2.3-litre (200kW/420Nm) and 2.7-litre turbo-petrol engines (230kW/540Nm) as the Bronco.

As with the new Ford Bronco 4x4 itself, there is also talk of V8-powered hero version of the Bronco pick-up to take on the Jeep Gladiator V8 that will likely follow the recently-announced 6.4-litre V8-powered Jeep Wrangler 392.

The images here were created by Aksyonov Nikita and show a slightly stretched version of the four-door Bronco incorporating a rear tray with what is presumably a fold-down tailgate.

The new Ford Bronco is based on the Ford Ranger’s Australian-developed T6 ladder platform, which technically would have no problem reverting to the leaf-sprung rear-end required for heavy-duty payload and towing duties.

Sadly, given that no Bronco models have yet been confirmed for Australia and the fact the Ford Ranger does pretty much what a Bronco ute would do (and probably for a lower price), a potential Bronco pick-up might be nothing more than a pipe-dream for Aussies.

What do you think – would you buy a Ford Bronco in either SUV or ute form if it became available in Australia? Have your say in the comments below.