A Wrangler Owner/Enthusiast/Builder honest review of the 2021 Bronco -- long.

[Rogue Toad]

Ford can’t hide behind the pandemic. They managed a pretty smooth Bronco Sport launch during the same time.

Um, because the Bronco Sport is very strongly based on an existing vehicle, the Escape. The Bronco is much more a brand new vehicle, which is a lot harder than badge-engineering.

Ford screwed up by making too many promises too early, like I said. But I worked in the auto industry for many years and still have a lot of friends at all of the Detroit 3. This pandemic has screwed a lot of stuff up outside of their control, and you really can't blame Ford for cancelling semiconductors early in 2020 when you recall how badly the 2008 recession went for the auto industry when they *didn't* react fast enough.

But hey, don't let me get in the way of the Ford bashing.

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[multicam]

The Bronco launch wasn't failed so much as over-promised initially and then various delays, some of which were out of Ford's control (Covid) happened. I dunno why so many companies from autos to video games, announce launch dates too far in advance to be sure they will happen. Delays are normal, but once you've committed to a date you'll be held accountable to it.

You hit the nail on the head right here... the Bronco is the Cyberpunk 2077 of the automobile industry. In development for a decade, wildly overhyped, buggy on release and ultimately a big disappointment.

 

[aldo98229]

There’s some sort of pandemic every 25 years; a major one every 100 years.

Ford took so freaking long developing Bronco that it was only a matter of time until it ran into the next one.

 

[ThirtyOne]

Um, because the Bronco Sport is very strongly based on an existing vehicle, the Escape. The Bronco is much more a brand new vehicle, which is a lot harder than badge-engineering.

Ford screwed up by making too many promises too early, like I said. But I worked in the auto industry for many years and still have a lot of friends at all of the Detroit 3. This pandemic has screwed a lot of stuff up outside of their control, and you really can't blame Ford for cancelling semiconductors early in 2020 when you recall how badly the 2008 recession went for the auto industry when they *didn't* react fast enough.

But hey, don't let me get in the way of the Ford bashing.

Oh don’t worry. I won’t.

the Bronco is based on the Ranger platform so not really an all-new vehicle. It’s not like Ford has never built a truck before.

and again they are releasing the Maverick at this time and Jeep is releasing all new vehicles too. It’s what automakers do.

 

[sf5211]

At the risk of being called a Bronco troll, I hope it’s rumor and not fact they’re stopping production. I wish every SUV manufacturer made a version of the Wrangler. It can only be good for us Jeep fans. As someone stated earlier, do you think we’d even have the 392 option if Ford wasn’t doing a more powerful engine?
Think about it, if Ford decided to give up on the Bronco, Stellantis could just sit back in their chairs, hand behind heads, charge us what they want and not make any improvements.
Us sheep will just keep lining up to buy em too!

 

[T Town]

At the risk of being called a Bronco troll, I hope it’s rumor and not fact they’re stopping production. I wish every SUV manufacturer made a version of the Wrangler. It can only be good for us Jeep fans. As someone stated earlier, do you think we’d even have the 392 option if Ford wasn’t doing a more powerful engine?
Think about it, if Ford decided to give up on the Bronco, Stellantis could just sit back in their chairs, hand behind heads, charge us what they want and not make any improvements.
Us sheep will just keep lining up to buy em too!

They are stopping production of hard tops and doing a redesign. Hardtops will again be made in December.
Until then they will produce only soft top Broncos. Anyone with an old hardtop will have it replaced free of charge.

 

[T Town]

Oh don’t worry. I won’t.

the Bronco is based on the Ranger platform so not really an all-new vehicle. It’s not like Ford has never built a truck before.

and again they are releasing the Maverick at this time and Jeep is releasing all new vehicles too. It’s what automakers do.

Bronco is based on the NEW Ranger platform not the old.

 

[T Town]

OP - nice review. It will certainly sell well once they get their manufacturing in order.

I just can’t get past the poor quality of materials that Ford chose to use, specifically on the interior and the hardtop. Squeaky plastics and leaky roofs are deal breakers, but congrats to the Ford guys for finally getting their Bronco back.

Roof doesn’t leak but can have rattles and clicks which have possible remedies I’m reading about.

 

[aldo98229]

They are stopping production of hard tops and doing a redesign. Hardtops will again be made in December.
Until then they will produce only soft top Broncos. Anyone with an old hardtop will have it replaced free of charge.

According to posts on Bronco6G, it appears to be much more serious than that: Bronco production is being mothballed. Bronco’s painting area is being sand bagged, and the assembly line will be put to making Rangers for the rest of 2021.

Meanwhile, Bronco’s hardtop will be redesigned.

 

[aldo98229]

At the risk of being called a Bronco troll, I hope it’s rumor and not fact they’re stopping production. I wish every SUV manufacturer made a version of the Wrangler. It can only be good for us Jeep fans. As someone stated earlier, do you think we’d even have the 392 option if Ford wasn’t doing a more powerful engine?
Think about it, if Ford decided to give up on the Bronco, Stellantis could just sit back in their chairs, hand behind heads, charge us what they want and not make any improvements.
Us sheep will just keep lining up to buy em too!

I doubt Ford is giving up on Bronco. Ford’s own reputation and executives’ careers are on the line.

But I sure hope it takes Bronco production more seriously going forward. Ford got so fixated with beating Jeep, that it believed its own hype and thought it could do nothing wrong.

Scaling back the marketing and all the hype would be a good start.

 

[rallydefault]

ultimately a big disappointment.

Jumping the gun there a bit. Or perhaps just vague language.

I would say the Bronco's launch, clearly, has been a disappointment.

The vehicle itself seems to be receiving darn good reviews from most outlets and (lucky) owners, though the latter is to be expected.

 

[HungryHound]

Um, because the Bronco Sport is very strongly based on an existing vehicle, the Escape. The Bronco is much more a brand new vehicle, which is a lot harder than badge-engineering.

Ford screwed up by making too many promises too early, like I said. But I worked in the auto industry for many years and still have a lot of friends at all of the Detroit 3. This pandemic has screwed a lot of stuff up outside of their control, and you really can't blame Ford for cancelling semiconductors early in 2020 when you recall how badly the 2008 recession went for the auto industry when they *didn't* react fast enough.

But hey, don't let me get in the way of the Ford bashing.

During the same time period, Jeep launched the 4xe and 392 instead of making excuses.

 

[rallydefault]

During the same time period, Jeep launched the 4xe and 392 instead of making excuses.

How is launching the same vehicle with a different power plant analogous to launching a brand-new vehicle?

 

[HungryHound]

How is launching the same vehicle with a different power plant analogous to launching a brand-new vehicle?

There's much more to redesign than just the engine. Suspension tweaks for the 392 and battery-placement, wiring, larger transmission, etc... for the 4xe. Heck, the 4xe might be a more complex change to the JL than the Bronco is from the Ranger.

The excuses listed on this forum (Covid, Chip shortage, etc....) affect ALL vehicles produced. The design and pre launch planning should have been done BEFORE covid ever happened. It's purely a drop of the ball between engineering and manufacturing. Whoever was in charge of this launch failed miserably.

 

[aldo98229]

The Bronco6G thread was 56 pages long by this morning. The admins locked it and put a redirect to a new thread that contains Ford’s official comuniqué.

When I go Auto News, I see the exact same one-way communication coming out of Ford PR.

This is the kind of stuff that drives me bonkers about how Ford controls everything that has to do with Bronco. Just wished Ford was as effective managing its suppliers and its own production as it is controlling the flow of information.

If I were a customer waiting for my Bronco, I’d be screaming at my dealer at this point.

This was one of the last posts to be allowed:

“I see this as Ford using Webasto as a whipping boy to cover up their own cluck-up.​

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After all, the MIC top is Ford's engineering design, produced on equipment Ford owns, using commodities and processes Ford specified. Folks circling 2023 on their calendars for a Modular top should recognize that product was developed by the same Ford staff who brought you the famous MIC.​

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My guess from afar is that Farley tried to quickly make his reputation by cutting corners and understaffing critical areas of the organization. His chickens have come home to roost.”​

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My thoughts exactly.

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