Ford is developing a new baby off-roader in North America with design inspiration from 1960s Bronco and it is going to share parts with Focus and Escape
Globally SUVs are the latest trend as growth from conventional body styles like hatchbacks and sedans are coming down, most of the manufacturers are experimenting with SUV body style as we have already seen everything from small compact SUVs to convertible luxury SUVs.
Ford officially announced that the company is going to focus on SUVs in North American market as they are going to drop current generation of hatchback and sedan models. The American manufacturer is working on multiple products to replace these models and it is expected to reach market from next year onwards.
Hau Thai-Tang, executive vice president of product development and purchasing confirmed that the company is working on a baby off-roader during an investor conference in New York. The new model is going to share parts with Focus and Escape as the former is going to be discontinued soon from domestic market.
The company is yet to name the upcoming model but he said it will carry forward some design cues from 1960s Bronco off-roader. The American manufacturer showcased Bronco off-roader concept at the 2004 Detroit Auto Show, but the model never made it to production line and the company earlier revealed that they are finally going to launch mid-size Bronco by 2019.
The Bronco is going to be based on Ranger pickup truck platform, which is body on frame architecture but the compact off-roader hinted by Hau Thai-Thing will get monocoque chassis as it will be based on same platform as Focus and Escape, so we can expect Ford to reveal two different SUVs next year.
Ford is betting big on these SUVs to bring back numbers as the company is going through tough time and dealers were not happy with the decision to drop conventional models, some experts said that Ford must have played the long game as they are focusing on short term success, which will backfire after initial success.