AUTONEWS

Ford Bronco will also be produced in China

The reincarnated Ford Bronco will be produced in China for the local market. The American car manufacturer has applied for a sales license, and this model will go into production there in 2024 at the latest.

The legendary Ford model in a new edition for the 21st century will be produced by the joint venture company Jiangling Ford with slightly changed design elements compared to the Bronco currently sold in the United States and Europe. China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) has revealed photos of two five-door Broncos, which could be an indication that there will be no three-door variants in the Chinese market. The vehicles shown also have two types of wheels, different bumpers and extended fenders, which are likely variations on different equipment packages.

The most significant change compared to the US-spec Bronco appears to be the “Ford” lettering on the radiator grille, placed right above the Bronco lettering, but in a different font. There are also Chinese characters on the tailgate, he says Klix.ba.

American and Chinese Broncos should have similar proportions, which may vary depending on the specification. So, it is an SUV model with a length of 4,800-4,825 mm, a width of 2,070 mm and a height of 1,990 mm, with a wheelbase of 2,950 mm. Local media claim that the Bronco cabin in China will remain the same as in the United States. But we’ll know more about that when the SUV goes on sale. We also expect some changes in the sizes of the multimedia screen.

The Chinese Bronco will be powered by a 2.3-liter turbocharged engine that is also produced in China by the Changan Ford joint venture. This unit develops 275 hp and 455 Nm, which is different from the output and torque of the 2.3 liter EcoBoost available in the US market, since it is a power of 300 hp and 441 Nm. The engine should be mated to a locally sourced 8-speed automatic transmission, instead of the 7-speed manual and 10-speed automatic available in the US.

Currently, the Bronco is sold through parallel import channels at a price of 700,000-1.2 million yuan (96,000-165,000 USD). Despite the high current price of imported models, Ford and its JV companies still sold more than 80,000 units in the first six months of this year in China.

However, based on the estimates of auto insiders, domestic production could lower the price of the entry model almost to the level of prices in America in the name of savings with local taxes. Namely, it is assumed that the starting model could then cost around 300,000 yuan (41,200 USD), which will more than halve the price and increase competitiveness in the local market. For the sake of comparison, the entry-level version of the Bronco costs as much as 74,500 euros in Europe.

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