Right-hand-drive Ford Bronco 'worth a try'

Ford Motor Company CEO Jim Farley has strongly suggested a right-hand-drive Bronco is in the works, telling Car Magazine such a vehicle would be “worth a try”.

The comments come after years of pining by Australian, British and South African off-road fans eager to sample the rugged Ranger-based SUV, despite the existence and availability of the Everest.

“The big Bronco will do right-hand drive, and I think it’s worth a try,” Farley said, a direct reference to its T6.2 Ranger underpinnings which were largely honed on Aussie soil by local engineers.

An Australian introduction for the Bronco has been discussed, theorised, reported on and debated for years now, with every possible avenue from right-hook production through to third-party remanufacturing explored.

Left-hand-drive ‘evaluation vehicles’ have been spotted in Australia on-and-off since mid-2022, the most recent of which was a Raptor parked in broad daylight out the front of a Bunnings hardware store in Melbourne.

Ford Australia has previously confirmed the Bronco as a future candidate for its right-hook remanufacturing operation being run with RMA Automotive, however Farley’s comments suggest a proper RHD factory program is on the cards.

Aussie Rangers are sourced from Thailand, with the other major RHD production facility being South Africa – the same place the upcoming Ranger PHEV will be sourced from.

Odds are a factory-made RHD Bronco would be produced at one of (if not both) those two key facilities as opposed to the US, owing primarily to the lower production costs, shorter shipping distances and existing right-hook Ranger assembly lines.

Should the project get the go-ahead officially, Ford Australia will be primed to escalate its see-sawing battle with Toyota and launch an all-out assault on the Jeep Wrangler, taking a major swipe at the GWM Tank 300 in the process.

Squaring off against Toyota, the seven-seat Everest would be left to duke it out with the new Prado while the five-seat and more rugged Bronco sets about battling the next-gen Fortuner as well as the upcoming FJ Cruiser.

The hypothetical (but ultimately highly likely) emergence of the Bronco Raptor meantime would deal a killer blow to the competition, primarily the Wrangler Rubicon and possibly even the Nissan Patrol Warrior.

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