Rumors about the potential release of the 2016 Ford Bronco have been quite wild lately, and there was strong speculation that the company has been in active development of the model. These rumors have been growing even stronger lately, with some alleged leaks from the company itself pointing at the new release as a strong possibility. However, Ford have decided to step in and put an end to the situation, announcing that there are no current plans to release a 2016 model of the Bronco, even though the company still values the brand name highly.
The response isn’t that surprising, considering the fact that the Bronco hasn’t been produced for eighteen years, ever since the Expedition took its place in 1996. The model ended up suffering from a bad mix of circumstances, however, and in the end its sales tanked and Ford decided to move on to alternative developments.
According to the company’s statements, the main problem behind the idea of releasing a new Bronco is the current market situation; Ford seem to believe that there isn’t a strong enough demand for the model, and that its release will see similar sales like the last problematic entry into the line.
Instead, Ford are moving forward with their work on a new Troller, and judging by the current situation, the model is likely going to retain its name. It was rumored that Ford may decide to actually rebrand the Troller to Bronco, and that this was the new Bronco that everyone has been speculating about, but so far, it seems like those rumors are completely unfounded.
Ford haven’t actually commented on those specific rumors, although there isn’t much for the company to say anyway. If they decide to go ahead with the production of the Troller and reveal it with that name, then it’s obvious that the rumors about the rebranding have been false. Some have been speculating that the company really did have such plans at some point, but they’ve decided to scrap the idea after some brief market analysis on the popularity of the Bronco brand name.
It would certainly be refreshing to see an update to the Bronco line though, given how long it’s been – Ford seem to have done their math and they already have their numbers, so they know exactly how much the market would want the model, but it’s hard to believe that a new Bronco wouldn’t see at least some moderately good sales nowadays. There’s still plenty of time to go until 2016 though, so the company’s plans may very well change until then, and it’s not like they’ve completely denied the possibility of a new Bronco.