Hey, Toyota LandCruiser FJ! Has the 2025 Ford Bronco 4WD just been confirmed for Australia as a cut-price Land Rover Defender?

Has Ford’s global CEO just confirmed the new Bronco four-wheel-drive for Australia?

Speaking to UK publication Car in France this week, Ford Chief Executive Officer Jim Farley has spoken publicly about right-hand-drive (RHD) for the mid-size off-roader for the first time.

“The big Bronco will do right-hand drive and I think it’s worth a try,” he revealed in the Car article about Ford’s push to improve its global standing moving forward.

“We’re naturally good at fast Fords and Broncos and authentic off-roaders… Ford’s brand perception was the same around the world: we were a ubiquitous company.

“But we had these little areas of brightness: we have heritage centres around the world filled with these [great] vehicles, but they were never mainstream.”

Farley’s statement also appears to be the first from anybody within the Ford Motor Company about the existence of a RHD Bronco, after years of denials.

When RHD production will happen is anybody’s guess.

However, we understand that if Australia is to see the Bronco sometime in the not-too-distant, it might be imported from China in partnership with Jiangling Ford Auto, rather than from Michigan in the United States.

The likelihood is that it may also be a facelift or modified version of the existing design, since that was released back in 2021 and is due for a midlife update.

The Blue Oval may also be watching what Toyota is doing with its mooted LandCruiser FJ that is anticipated to break cover sometime from next year.

It might also be the case that Ford is watching the $50,000 to $80,000 space vacated by the conceptually-similar Jeep Wrangler when that went upmarket a couple of years ago.

Additionally, the Bronco has a very strong association with Australia.

Last year, CarsGuide revealed that at least one wrecked RHD prototype was spotted having undergone crash testing in Melbourne – which might seem strange, until you remember that the Bronco was developed off the T6 body-on-frame platform that was designed and engineered in Australia.

In other words, it is a sister model to the country’s best-selling vehicle, the Ranger ute, as well as the increasingly popular Everest SUV.

And, just to be clear, we’re talking about the Bronco 4WD, not the smaller, Escape midsized SUV-derived Bronco Sport, that is also off the table for Australia for the time being for being left-hand-drive (LHD) only.

Whether the RHD Bronco we hope to see in Australia soon adopts some of the coming technologies of the Ranger, including hybrid electrification, remains to be seen.

When we reached out for comment from Ford Australia at the time, their response was typical initially, but did leave a door that’s marked “Anything’s possible” open for interpretation.

“We do not comment on future products,” a spokesperson said.

“As you know, there has been a lot of input by Ford’s Australian engineers in the Bronco as it is based on the T6 architecture developed in Australia… and this is an ongoing process.

“Australia does a lot of testing for vehicles not sold in this country.”

Previously, and since being unveiled in 2020, Ford has indicated that the Bronco was to remain LHD only due to production capacity constraints, as demand in North America has been consistently strong.

However, US sales dipped last year compared to 2022’s high of 117,057 units, and they have remained flat this year, meaning that this may have prompted the rethink.

Of course, importing the Bronco from China might circumvent these issues for Ford, while also providing a less-expensive source for the SUV icon.

Whatever happens, it seems that Toyota and other brands like Jeep, GWM and Land Rover will not have the recreational 4WD market to themselves for much longer in Australia.

As per usual, watch this space.