Ford Has Started Selling the Bronco To International Markets

After confirming the launch of the Bronco nameplate for their International Market Group (this includes the Philippines), the first two global markets—Brazil and Argentina are receiving their much-awaited Broncos as early as this month.

Sadly, these aren’t the Jeep Wrangler rivaling Bronco Broncos, but rather, the smaller Ford Escape-based Bronco Sport. Regardless, it provides a possible picture of how Ford plans to position its Bronco when it eventually arrives to markets such as the Philippines.

For the Brazilian market, which also happens to get the Territory as well, Ford has decided to bring in their terrain-capable compact SUV in just one trim and that’s the Wildtrak equipped with a 2.0-liter EcoBoost engine mated with an 8-speed automatic. This is enough to satisfy power-hungry owners with its 245 horsepower, 373 Nm output.

Curiously, for another market, Argentina, Ford has opted to bring in two versions of the Bronco Sport—the Big Bend and the Wildtrak. The Big Bend is powered by a smaller 1.5-liter EcoBoost (still good for 181 horsepower and 258 Nm), while the Wildtrak over there gets the same 245-horsepower 2.0-liter engine.

Regardless of engine, the Ford Bronco Sport, like its bigger brother, comes standard with a 7-mode Terrain Management System. The carmaker calls it G.O.A.T. or Goes Over Any Terrain. It even comes with Trail Control—a sort of off-road cruise control and Rock Crawl mode. Water wading depth is set at an impressive 600 mm too.

These may seem like overkill for what’s destined to be mall curb crawlers, but there’s no denying the strong panache behind the Bronco brand.

Of course, Ford Philippines hasn’t commented on whether they plan to bring in the Bronco and/or Bronco Sport locally, but several Ford dealers have started throwing feelers to potential clients as early as late last year.

Product-wise, given the large white space between the entry-level Territory and the mid-sized Explorer, the carmaker may be in a good position to bring in the Bronco Sport at the very least. The fact that gray market dealers have brought in a couple of examples already (priced at a hefty P 3 million-plus for a Bad Lands), Ford can use this as an opportunity to study the market demand more closely.

Source: Car Guides PH