Forbidden 4WD Australia needs

Ford's forbidden off-roader just got better.

The Blue Oval has unveiled its Bronco RTR rugged SUV over in the United States, and it looks perfect for Australia.

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It gets the same four-cylinder 2.3-litre turbo-petrol engine found in other US Bronco variants, but it has been given some performance tweaks.

There is a 1000W cooling fan, as found in the Bronco Raptor, along with software changes as part of an anti-lag system.

It has high-clearance suspension with Fox internal bypass dampers and 33-inch tires, which are the biggest-ever fitted to a showroom Bronco.

All these features would make this new Bronco at home in Australia as a cheaper off-roading rival to the big hitters of the segment.

The emission-heavy engine and left-hand drive manufacture of this Bronco makes it impractical for Ford to launch it Down Under.

Australia is getting a Bronco-badged Ford in late 2026.

The Australia-bound Bronco SUV will be the one built in China, use a range extender hybrid set-up and will likely be competitively priced.

This means it will not be built on the T6 Ranger platform or be the monocoque-bodied Sport SUV, which are both sold in the US.

The range extender hybrid Bronco will give Ford some much needed help as it chases New Vehicle Efficiency Standard (NVES) credits to offset its sales of high-polluting Ranger and Everest models.

The hybrid Bronco in China has a 1.5-litre turbo-petrol engine that is used exclusively to charge the large BYD-sourced Lithium-Ferro-Phosphate (LFP) battery, which delivers an electric-only driving range of more than 200km.