Contrary to rumors and speculations that started swirling on April 1, 2014, there will be no 2016 Ford Bronco that will come along this year.
Assuming that the 2016 Ford Bronco reports are accurate and real, Ford Motor Company should have been drumbeating about the vehicle since last year. The company would have started promotions, controlled leaks, or even test drives of the vehicle by this time.
But unfortunately, none of such promotional initiatives have been heard from the end of the American car manufacturer which means that the 2016 Ford Bronco rumors are done and over with.
Ford officially announced last February that it would be launching four new sport utility vehicles (SUVs) in the next four years, which means from next year until 2020.
However, the American car manufacturer did not disclose the names of the SUVs nor did it mention anything about specific release dates of each of the upcoming product offerings.
What Ford said about the new SUVs in its press release is that those upcoming additions to its SUV lineup will be intended for millennials and baby boomers, which account for about 160 million among the world’s population.
Ready to compete in the SUV segment
Mark LaNeve, Ford Motor Company vice president of marketing, sales, and service, explained during a breakfast meeting last month of the Midwest Automotive Media Association that the growth in SUV sales is expected to continue not only in the US but all over the world.
And that is the reason why Ford will be venturing into the segment with four new SUVs in the next four years. LaNeve also said that the American carmaker is currently not competing in the segment.
The announcement by Ford Motor Company has sparked speculations that one of those four SUVs might be the long awaited return of the iconic Bronco last seen 20 years ago.
However, it is possible that the Bronco may be one of the four SUVs that will be released by Ford Motor Company, but it is not going to be this year so it is not going to be called a 2016 Ford Bronco.
The Ranger and the Bronco release dates
SUV enthusiasts and critics at Gearheads believe that the latest Ford Bronco will be released in 2020. In fact, it actually got word from a supposed reliable source that Ford will be making a $700 million investment to re-tool its Michigan assembly plant to produce the US-spec Ford Ranger and release it in 2018 and the Ford Bronco for rollout in 2020.
The site added that Ford Motor Company will actually put $9 billion investments as part of its agreement with the United Auto Workers to help maintain the employment of some 8,500 workers at the company’s assembly plant in Michigan and in 21 other facilities around the US.
Based on its research picked up from other news sites, Gas2 is also of the opinion that the latest Ford Bronco will be released in 2020.
It also affirms some of the renderings of the upcoming Bronco, most of them feature straightforward and uncluttered designs that combine visual cues from the Gen I and Gen II Broncos of the past.
They all feature the classic round headlight look that was a characteristic of those iconic Broncos. It was also based on the 2004 Bronco concept that Ford displayed at the North American International Motor Show in Detroit.
Many are saying that the return of the Bronco will be a great news for enthusiasts. With the declining fuel prices, now is the best time for Ford to bring back its iconic vehicle brand, which was last seen some 20 years ago being tarnished by the infamous car chase involving O.J. Simpson.
LaNeve also hinted during the same event that one of the four SUVs may be a mini-utility vehicle, which is called as a crossover utility vehicle or CUV in different parts of the world outside of the US. One of those four could be for an overseas distribution, something that Ford has already done with its EcoSport vehicle launched a few years ago in most Asian countries.