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New Ford Baby Bronco Teased At Dealer Meeting

Not that long ago, Ford held a national meeting in Las Vegas where the Shelby GT500 was revealed to U.S. dealers. But as it happens, the “yet-to-be-named off-road SUV” made an appearance on the big screen as well, juxtaposed against the shadow of the 2020 Ford Bronco.
2020 Ford Baby Bronco 126 photos
Photo: off-road.com
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Rugged from nose to tail, the Baby Bronco features FORD lettering in the center of the grille and circular LED headlights that hark back to designs from the 1960s and 1970s. A pair of tow hooks, two bulges in the hood, black wheels, door mirrors, and roof rails are also included.

The pillars and roof are painted black as well, but for some reason or other, Ford used white flourishing for the sides of the roof. The squared-off SUV comes with five lug nuts per wheel, which might serve as our first clue in regard to the vehicle architecture of the Baby Bronco.

Ford is understood to use the C2 for this application, marking the second implementation after the all-new Focus. The United States was supposed to get the Focus Active faux crossover from China, but in light of the import tariffs imposed by the Donald Trump administration on the Middle Kingdom, the jacked-up hatchback was canceled from the U.S. lineup.

Curiously enough, Ford didn’t mention anything about the 2020 Bronco at the national meeting in Las Vegas. On the other hand, dealers were also treated to the rear-wheel-drive Explorer for the 2020 model year, all-new Escape, and the battery-electric SUV in addition to the small-yet-rugged SUV and Shelby GT500.

Turning our attention back to the Baby Bronco, the renderings shown at the meeting reveal an evolution of the exterior design compared to the teaser from March 2018. Ford worked hardest to redesign the front fascia, giving the compact SUV the sort of looks that would make even the 2019 Jeep Renegade blush with admiration.

In all likelihood, the suck-squeeze-bang-blow of the “yet-to-be-named off-road SUV” will come courtesy of some sort of EcoBoost engine option, either the 1.5-liter three-cylinder or 2.0-liter four-cylinder. As for the transmission, the eight-speed automatic in the Focus should do the trick nicely.
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Editor's note: EcoSport pictured in the gallery.

About the author: Mircea Panait
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After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well.
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