Ford’s baby Bronco will be introduced next year and is expected to act as a smaller off-roading alternative to the Escape
Ford’s upcoming small SUV based on the Bronco has been all the rage lately. Firstly, various reports suggest that it will be named the Bronco Adventurer while Bronco Scout could be used for a specialised variant. Having been spied testing, the baby Bronco, as commonly referred to as, spills the bean on its styling.
Although in its initial phase of testing, the camouflaged prototype suggests some design details we already know. It will have a boxy styling while the front and rear sections will have squared off profiles. The front fascia is rather upright, as does the tailgate in the compact rear end mimicking the Bronco concept of the early 2000s.
The front fascia will likely have youthful elements such as a sporty black finished grille and prominent Ford lettering. It will definitely have high ground clearance and plastic body cladding and probably skid plates to emphasise its off-roading nature while the wheel arches could become beefy when the testing evolves.
Other notable design elements are round-shaped headlamps with LED light ring treatment, rounded bumpers, clamshell bonnet structure, clean lines flowing on the sides, flat roof and tall pillars. Ford will be launching the baby Bronco in 2020 as the global product will compete against Jeep Renegade primarily.
The design approach does indicate that the small off-roader will be a compact alternative of the Escape and it will share plenty of components with the successful model. It could adopt engines from the latest Escape as well. A 1.5-litre EcoBoost three-cylinder engine kicks out 180 horsepower and 240 Nm of peak torque.
The high-spec variants of the Escape use a 2.0-litre EcoBoost four-cylinder motor pumping out 250 horsepower and 372 Nm of torque. The baby Bronco could be offered in a plug-in hybrid variant while an electric version may possibly be in the works for the near future.