Ford confirms return of the Bronco

Giddy up! Ford has confirmed the worst-kept secret in the automotive industry: the Bronco is back.

The US manufacturer will bring its cult SUV back to market in 2020 following a 20-year hiatus of the Bronco nameplate and, as we revealed last year, it's being developed in Australia.

Months after a US union official let slip of the Bronco, which will shared the revised T6 ladder platform of the new Ford Ranger ute due in 2019, the car-maker confirmed the news at the Detroit auto show overnight.

“We’re bringing back the Ford Bronco in 2020,” said Joe Hinrich, president of Ford’s Americas division.

“It too will be built right here in our Michigan assembly plant. It’s a name you’ve known and loved for decades. Bronco is one of five global SUVs coming in 2020.”

As reported by motoring.com.au, the Bronco will feature extensive Australia design and development input and will likely be sold in most markets worldwide. However, Ford stakeholders are coy on whether Australia will actually take the new Bronco.

“We haven’t announced that yet,” Ford chairman Bill Ford told motoring.com.au.

The T6 platform on which the Bronco will be based was created in Australia and will be further developed for the next Ranger and new Bronco. The company’s chairman said that input would likely continue in the Bronco.

“Potentially, yeah. Ford’s Australian team has done a great job on that platform,” Bill Ford said.

Ford chief technical officer Raj Nair wouldn’t be drawn on the Bronco’s selection of powertrains, or whether it will be available in three-door or five-door forms.

“We have nothing to announce beyond the introduction of the Bronco here in the US,” he said.

“Our T6 platform in the Ranger and the US is available globally in left-hand drive and right-hand drive, but there is nothing more to announce on that today.

“The T6 platform is a great platform and our team in Melbourne, Australia, is the engineering lead for the platform. But the Bronco vehicle coming off that platform, we engineer in Dearborn, Michigan.”

Ford also confirmed the return of the Ranger to the US market in 2019. Nair said the new model, which is likely to share features with the Australian-spec Ranger, “will be very similar to the current model”. Asked what engines were likely to be available in the US, he said it was too soon to comment.

“There’s a differentiation in the customer looking for that different size of vehicle [compared to the larger F150], and so we believe there will be an incremental sales boost there for us.”