Chinese 2024 Ford Bronco Is Pricier Than US Model, 2.3L EcoBoost Will Have To Suffice

Before going any further, Jiangling Ford is a joint venture established in late 2021 that produces the Ranger mid-size pickup truck and the Bronco with little in the way of aesthetic and mechanical differences over the North American models. The Ranger can be had with either the 2.3-liter EcoBoost or a turbo diesel, whereas the Bronco comes with the four-cylinder turbo gas engine only in the PRC.

At press time, you can get a Jiangling Ford-made Ranger for as little as 145,800 renminbi, which translates to the people's currency or 20,210 freedom eagles at current exchange rates. The Bronco kicks off at 299,800 yuan or 41,560 bucks at the moment of reporting, while Ford wants $39,630 for the North American model produced at the Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne, Michigan.

There's no 2.7-liter EcoBoost sixer to speak of, and prospective customers are not offered the 3.0-liter EcoBoost V6-engined Raptor specification either. Trim levels range from Big Bend to Badlands and Everglades, with the Everglades being a limited-run affair. Only 500 will be produced. 438,800 yuan makes it a bit pricier than the 399,800-yuan Badlands. Both of them feature HOSS 2.0 suspension, which is also featured on the Outer Banks Sasquatch Package. Easily the sweetest spot in the lineup, the OB SAS is 387,800 renminbi as opposed to 337,800 for the non-SAS Outer Banks.

From a visual standpoint, you can tell a Chinese Bronco apart from the US model by the Ford lettering above the front grille's Bronco lettering. At the rear, you'll find Bronco lettering right below the Blue Oval badge and a badge comprising Hanzi characters on the lower right side of the tailgate.

Assembled in Nanchang, which is the capital of the Jiangxi Province, the body-on-frame 4x4 cannot be had with a manual transmission. The 10R-series automatic will have to suffice in combination with the 2.3-liter EcoBoost. In this application, we're dealing with the 10R60 version of the torque-converter transmission, with 60 being Ford's way of saying 600 Nm or 443 pound-feet of input torque.

The powerplant, meanwhile, is good for 202 kW and 429 Nm, meaning 271 horsepower and 316 pound-feet at full chatter. Depending on the gasoline's octane rating, the direct-injected lump develops 275 or 300 horsepower in the US model, while peak torque ranges from 315 lb-ft (427 Nm) on regular unleaded to 325 lb-ft (441 Nm) on premium-grade dinosaur juice.

Chinese customers can't get the Bronco in two-door flavor, partly because Chinese motorists have a thing for long-wheelbase automobiles, so much so that Merc and BMW produce LWB versions of the C-Class and 3 Series for the PRC exclusively.  Looking at the bigger picture, why would the joint venture bother producing two body styles when the four-door Bronco sells a whole lot better than the two-door back home in the United States? By the way, the EU-spec Bronco is four-door only as well.