Ford Australia is in the midst of a major lineup shakeup, adding a variety of new products in the coming months and years consisting of five new electrified vehicles by 2024 – including the Ford Mustang Mach-E EV crossover, the Ford F-150, which is set to launch there next year, and possibly even the Ford Maverick. The next-generation Ford Ranger Raptor and Ford Everest have already proven quite popular in Australia as well, but another off-road focused Blue Oval model – the Ford Bronco – won’t be joining them, as CEO Jim Farley recently revealed to CarExpert.
“We could do Bronco and Bronco Sport for the globe for sure. But we have like a year or two of orders for now, we have a lot of work to do with capacity before we can even consider that,” Farley said. “Of course it can be engineered, like Mustang, but we have to invest in the capacity. We’re still in the first or second inning…so give us some time.”
This news doesn’t come as a major surprise given the fact that Ford Australia president and CEO, Andrew Birkic said that right-hand drive versions of the Ford Bronco and Ford Bronco Sport weren’t in the cards back in April 2021, but things do tend to change rather quickly in the automotive world. Regardless, these comments from Farley seem to indicate that Ford won’t consider making such a vehicle until it can catch up with the incredible demand the Bronco has faced since its launch in 2020.
Of course, Farley did note that the automaker can certainly build a right-hand drive Bronco, and that model also shares the Ford T6 platform with the Ranger, which is already on sale globally – in both left- and right-hand drive configurations. Regardless, for now at least, Australians seeking a more rugged SUV will have to settle for the new Everest.
We’ll have more on the Bronco very soon, so be sure and subscribe to Ford Authority for more Ford Bronco news and around-the-clock Ford news coverage.
Comment
Like so many other cars in the stable Ford misses the chance to regain market prominence in Australia, apart from the Ranger/Everest and the ‘stang the best vehicles for increasing their market share never arrive in their prime but instead we get them when they’re more than half way into their model life.