Ford Bronco News

Ford’s Everest large SUV has proved a consistent favourite with family buyers, thanks in part to regular tweaking from the Blue Oval including new model options and equipment upgrades. And true to form, Ford Australia has released details of the Everest’s 2027 model year line-up featuring new design trims, exterior colours and most significantly, a limited-build Wolftrak edition. Following in the wheel tracks of last year’s Ranger Wolftrak LE, each of the roughly 800 Everest Wolftraks to be produced will feature the Tremor’s “off-road-inspired design elements” including a honeycomb front grille as well as a black finish on the door handles, exterior mirror caps and fender flares. Car-spotters should also look out for a black roof, black ‘Everest’ bonnet lettering and exclusive 20-inch black alloy wheels shod with all-season rubber (17s with Bridgestone Dueler all-terrains are optional), as well as Traction Green and Lime Zest elements across the car’s exterior. No-cost premium paint options are Command Grey, Shadow Black or the new (Wolftrak exclusive) Traction Green. The green highlights continue inside on the leather-accented upholstery, interior trim and stitching. And just to ram the theme home, the heated and ventilated electric front seat backrests feature a bold ‘Wolftrak’ logo embroidered in Lime Zest. Priced from $73,000, drive-away, the Wolftrak is available with the (125kW/405Nm) 2.0-litre, four-cylinder turbo-diesel or (184kW/600Nm) 3.0L V6 turbo-diesel engine and comes standard with a Premium Towing Pack, including a 3.5-tonne rated hitch, integrated electric brake controller, Tow Haul mode and Pro Trailer Backup Assist. Meanwhile, across the rest of the Everest line-up there are design and interior updates and a refreshed colour palette. The entry-level Active 2.0L now features a no-cost optional cloth upholstery in the five-seat version while the Active and higher Sport grade now include synthetic leather trim with the flagship Platinum picking up debossed ‘Platinum’ branding in the front seats. Colour choices have also been updated with Desert Island Blue now available on the Sport and Tremor joining the Wolftrak's Traction Green. To sweeten the Everest’s appeal in the run towards year-end Ford has introduced drive-away prices for the Everest Active, Sport and Wolftrak 2.0-litre models. And on top of that, until December 1, 2026 there’s a $4000 offer on V6 versions of the Everest Active, Sport, Wolftrak and Tremor (at participating Ford dealers) with buyers able to choose between a digital fuel card or an equivalent $4.0K discount on the purchase price.  

What does it say about us humans that the most popular car colours globally are black, white, grey and silver? Where are all the properly colourful car colours at? Well, we found them. This started out seeming like an easy task, but ended up with me visiting the website of every car brand selling their wares in Australia and checking the colour options for their models. There brands offer vibrant colours, the rest will offer the usual white, black and silver. Most of these brands will also offer red and blue, while others offer more modern hues such as dark green and light brown, or even lilac. Yep, lilac appears to be trending. I’ve excluded the exotic car brands such as Porsche, BMW, Mercedes-Benz and so on, from this little project. All of them offer bespoke colours or will even match the colour of your car to that of your sofa, but it’ll cost you. Which is out of reach for most people. Here are the top 5 brands that aren’t afraid of loud or vibrant colours. Ford offers a surprisingly good range of vibrant colours thanks to models such as the Mustang, which comes in Orange Fury, Molten Magenta and Adriatic Blue; and the Ranger Raptor that gets Code Orange and Blue Lightning. The upcoming Bronco Basecamp SUV is expected to come in Flare Orange and other adventurous hues, too. Lepas is another of the many brands owned by Chinese auto giant Chery. It'll launch its first vehicle, the L6 EV, in October. What separates Lepas’ from Chery’s other sub-brands such as Omoda and Jaecoo is the bold colours of the models in its overseas ranges, which will follow the L6 over the coming 12 months. Right now, the  L6 offered in a very striking purple and orange. Mini knows exactly what it’s doing, and it’s doing premium quirkiness. Yes Renault and Peugeot can do quirky and premium, but Mini has really mastered the statement car thing, and of course a big part of that is colour. The Mini Cooper comes in 11 colours and while Sunny Side Yellow makes me want to own a car, which looks like a rubber duckie, the Ocean Wave Green is so sublime, I want a tin of it to paint my front door. GWM is currently doing a lot of the heavy lifting when it comes to outrageous colours and I’m completely here for it. The Ora 5 small electric SUV launched in July and arrived in colours that would make most car company executives very uncomfortable. Flamingo Pink? Yes please. Cute Cyan? Absolutely. Emerald Green? Don’t mind if I do. Jeep’s the undisputed champion of colour offerings… and of vehicles with removable doors.  Just knowing the Jeep Gladiator Rubicon ute comes in bright purple, and the hue is called Reign, somehow makes me sleep better at night.  There’s also Mojito, which is a luminous monster green, a bright orange named Joose and a Gold named Goldilocks. Ah, thank you Jeep for keeping it irreverent and colourful.  

Ford Australia has confirmed the future arrival of the Bronco SUV to Australia, but not as it has historically been known. The 2027 Ford Bronco Basecamp will arrive in Australia in the second half of 2027, with the model’s platform unrelated to the T6 Ranger-based Ford Bronco and Escape-based Bronco Sport SUV both available in the US. The Bronco Basecamp is, instead, a product of Ford’s joint venture with China's Jiangling Motors (JMC) and is available in China as the Ford Bronco New Energy. While Australian details are yet to be confirmed as global market development work continues, Ford confirmed the model would retain its EREV (extended-range electric vehicle) powertrain.  This means a 1.5-litre turbocharged engine will act as a range extender to charge the 49kW battery. Ford estimates a driving range of around 800-900km. While not as rugged as the full-size Ford Bronco available in the US, the Basecamp still features an all-wheel drive system thanks to electric motors driving the wheels - the engine doesn’t directly power the wheels. While the Bronco Basecamp’s local launch is around a year away, Ford Australia confirmed the ‘camping’ capability of the Bronco is expected to be a big draw. The roof of the Outer Banks grade is able to pop up to allow more space inside, and a mattress designed to fit the cabin with the seats folded flat is available. Heated and cooled compartments are included, and 6.6kW onboard power means camping gear like cooktops, lights or other equipment is able to be run from the battery. Given the arguable failure of the most recent Ford Escape in Australia, the starting price for the Bronco Basecamp will need to be competitive - and it could be, given its Chinese origins. Ford will want the starting price to sit well below the larger Everest SUV’s entry point of around $60,000. A combination of 130kW and 180kW motors at the front and rear are used in the Chinese market EREV, but Ford engineers wouldn't confirm or hint at local outputs. A full-EV variant is also available in China, though it’s not being discussed openly as a possibility for Australia given Ford’s insistence that the EREV will suit Australian buyers. Ford Australia will confirm pricing and specifications closer to its H2 2027 launch.

Buyers are about to get an exciting new ute from Ford.  The Blue Oval is developing a ute model to add to its hugely popular Ford Bronco line-up, according to a report in AutoNews. The Bronco pick-up is due to launch in North America before 2030, and will join the likely Australian-bound Bronco hybrid coming next year. The Bronco has been a significant sales success in North America as a cheap off-roading rival to the Jeep Wrangler. This latest move from Ford will see the lifestyle off-roader take on the hotly-contested ute segment.  Ford is looking to expand on the success of the Bronco name in North America by exporting it to global markets and introducing new variants. The Blue Oval has pivoted its focus away from EVs following substantial losses in the past year, and is now seeking different avenues.  It suffered from extensive devaluation of its EV business due to low demand and high development costs, among other things. There is a monocoque, likely plug-in hybrid compact SUV Bronco being built in Spain for European buyers.  A different Chinese-built electric and range-extender large SUV Bronco is earmarked for an Australian release in 2027. These variants differ from the Bronco and Bronco Sport off-roaders only available in North America. There is no official news on the Bronco ute’s future in Australia as details light-on at this stage.  The ute will initially be built in the United States, meaning it will only come in left-hand drive for now, and future export plans have not been confirmed. Australia doesn't get the current North American Bronco because it's built in left-hand drive and its emissions-heavy turbo-petrol engines would incur fines under our regulations. Australia will instead receive the Bronco ‘New Energy’ range-extender hybrid and electric mid-size SUV in 2027, highlighting Ford’s interest in the name here.  Any Bronco ute’s Australian launch likely hinges on whether its set-up will have hybrid power and will be built in right-hand drive. A spokesperson for Ford Australia said the brand would not comment on future production speculation.

Ford has announced a plan it hopes will win back European buyers by launching five new “rally bred” small cars before the end of the decade. In an ambitious attempt to regain the large share of Europe’s market it once had, Ford is playing the performance card hoping its historic connections to motorsport and adventure will appeal to buyers. “Ford has more than a century of racing heritage particularly in the world of rally, Europe’s native racing format,” the announcement said.  “Combining that off-road DNA with on-road performance, Ford will create rally-bred vehicles tailored to Europe.”  The announcement launches a new campaign centred around the slogan 'Ready Set Ford' and promises to bring new models in areas that Ford believes are its strengths, those being 'Build, Thrill and Adventure', according to the brand. All this is happening as Chinese brands such as BYD flood the market with electric and plug-in hybrid cars. Ford’s announcement is high on slogans and promises it’s low on details, although five new models have been confirmed including a baby Bronco off-road SUV to be built in Spain in 2028. The baby Bronco will be a 'multi energy' model according to Ford’s statement, suggesting it will be offered in several variants, possibly hybrid and fully electric. Also revealed in Ford’s announcement was the coming of a new fully-electric small SUV described as having “rally bred design language and drive dynamics in an urban-friendly package”. Two more sporty multi-energy models will also be launched - so called 'rally-bred' SUVs or crossovers. These will join and complete Ford’s new European passenger car line-up by 2029. The new models could see the revival of the Fiesta and Focus nameplates. Both models were axed within the past five years as Ford redirected its energy to SUVs. Ford’s ambitious strategy is designed to combat the current threat from new rivals the company faces in Europe. Small affordable electric and hybrid cars from Chinese carmakers are rapidly growing in popularity and Ford has seen its share in the European market dwindle from about nine per cent to less than four per cent. Will Australia see any of these new Ford models? It’s possible given some will be produced in right-hand drive for the UK. Ford may also need to review its skeletal offering in Australia, given the local downturn in the off-road ute market that it relies on heavily for sales.

Ford Australia has a popularity problem.  By that I mean, the Ranger is so popular it is Australia’s best-selling new vehicle any given month, but at a time when the government is looking to crack down on emissions. The New Vehicle Efficiency Standards (NVES) have been designed to motivate both car makers and customers alike to choose a new vehicle with lower emissions. This is part of the reason why Ford has invested so much time and effort into adding the Ranger plug-in hybrid to its range. But, unfortunately for Ford Australia, buyers so far seem pretty happy to stick with good old fashioned turbo-diesel power.  So, as we look at the missing pieces across several of Australia’s leading car brands, there is a very obvious gap in the Ford line-up - a small or mid-size SUV powered by either a plug-in hybrid or all-electric powertrain to help offset all those diesel Ranger emissions under NVES. Under the Federal Government’s policy it will penalise car makers for not getting their vehicles below a mandated CO2 emissions target. The good news is a car maker can effectively offset those vehicles over the limit by claiming ‘credits’ for its vehicles that are below the threshold. Obviously electric cars are rated with zero CO2 emissions, so enjoy the most credits. The problem for Ford is that its biggest selling models are the diesel-powered Ranger and Everest and the V8-powered Mustang. That trio accounts for more than 90 per cent of Ford Australia’s total volume. The all-electric Mustang Mach-E is less than one per cent of the company’s local sales. So, what Ford would likely love is for a more popular SUV, that could help both with NVES but also grow sales. Ford simply gave up on the SUV market, dropping the Escape, despite it being the biggest single segment of the market. It also dropped the Puma and Endura, leaving the Everest to fight on alone. It’s believed Ford will add the Chinese-built Bronco sometime in the not-too-distant future, and the range-extender mid-size SUV could be just what the brand needs at this moment in time. It’s powered by a 110kW 1.5-litre turbo petrol engine and electric motor, which is powered by a BYD battery to provide over 200km of range. What’s more, it’s a Bronco. The Escape was a perfectly fine mid-size SUV, but it was very easy to overlook in a crowded and highly competitive market, which is not something you can say about the Bronco. This is arguably Ford’s best chance of reestablishing itself into the mid-size SUV market. Hopefully being built in China allows it to be price competitive and Ford Australia can stop being so reliant on the Ranger for its success.

Ford has all but signed, sealed and delivered a new type of Bronco for Australia. According to our sources, the Toyota RAV4 mid-sized SUV rival is set to arrive late next year as the belated 2027 replacement for the unsuccessful Escape that was dropped in 2023. Despite looking very similar, note that this is not related to either the monocoque-bodied Bronco Sport SUV, or the much-beefier Bronco 4WD off-roader that’s built on the T6 Ranger platform. Launched in 2021, both are very popular North America-focused models not earmarked for our market.

An exciting pocket rocket 4WD is getting closer to Australia.

Ford has announced its Bronco is now available for pre-order in China making the wait for the cute off-road SUV for Australians that bit more frustrating. Don't stress too much, the Chinese version of the Bronco is unlikely to be the one that we’ll get.

Despite a seemingly huge appetite for the ultra-cool Ford Bronco SUV and its mini-me Bronco Sport sibling, Aussie new car buyers have so far been denied access to the super-successful retro-futurist Ford models.