Will Australia’s patience finally be rewarded? It certainly seems so with Ford’s global CEO, Jim Farley, giving his strongest indication yet that the Bronco SUV will be offered in right-hand drive, paving the way for it to come to Australia and take on the Toyota LandCruiser and Jeep Wrangler.
Despite being based on the same vehicle platform as the locally-developed Ranger ute, the Bronco has only been built in left-hand drive. But speaking to the UK’s Car publication this week, Farley indicated that that will change as the brand looks to enhance its image outside of the USA.
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“Ford never funded enthusiast products – they were always a side business,” Farley told Car. “Now with Mustang, Raptor and Bronco, they’re our business.”
He then added: “The big Bronco will do right-hand drive and I think it’s worth a try.”
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It’s not the first time Farley has spoken about right-hand drive Bronco, at the 2022 launch of the S650 Mustang, Torquecafe directly asked him about the chances of the rugged off-roader coming to our market and he indicated it was a matter of timing. In ‘22 the revived Bronco was at the peak of its popularity and Ford was busy servicing American customers.
“We can do Bronco and Bronco Sport for the globe for sure but we have, like, a year or two order bank so we have a lot of work to do on our capacity before we can even consider something like that,” Farley told Torquecafe in ‘22.
“Of course it can be engineered just like Mustang but you have to invest in the capacity and it’s the first or second inning of building up the Bronco line-up. There’s going to be a lot of iterations so give us some time.”
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It seems that with US demand slowing, the rest of the world could have a chance. The Bronco would need to be sold in several right-hand drive markets to make the business case stack up, but Farley seems determined to re-shape Ford’s image as a brand that makes exciting, enthusiast-focused cars around the world.
This new-generation Bronco was first launched in 2020 so is due for a mid-life update, which would seemingly make the ideal time to introduce right-hand drive. In May 2023 reports emerged of a right-hand drive Bronco being spotted in Australia, but Ford refused to comment on its existence.
In the US the Bronco is available in a wide array of variants with a focus on adventure with models called Big Bend, Outer Banks, Badlands and Everglades as well as familiar badges such as Wildtrak and Raptor.
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