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Jeep Head Throws Shade at Ford for the Bronco’s Roof Problems

When the Ford Motor Company was preparing to unveil the Bronco for the 2021 model year, Jim Farley made a rather interesting statement. He described the body-on-frame utility vehicle as much superior to the Wrangler, albeit that assertion has come back to bite him spectacularly.
2021 Ford Bronco 44 photos
Photo: Ford
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For starters, the Bronco sits on 100,000-plus orders that FoMoCo simply cannot deliver this year. It’s also worth remembering that Jeep delivered 201,311 units of the JL and JLU in the United States of America last year.

Secondly, the Blue Oval doubled the First Edition’s output even though reservation holders of the First Edition were promised exclusivity. We also have to mention the whole transmission debacle. On the one hand, the Sasquatch Package is not available with a manual for the 2021 model year. On the other hand, the 10-speed automatic is the 10R60 of the Explorer instead of the stouter 10R80 featured in the Ranger and F-150 pickup trucks.

The list of gaffes further includes whistling noises from the driver’s mirror and the gap between the hood and grille opening, along with a trucking company that damaged a Bronco in transit to the dealership. The biggest faux pas concerns the molded-in-color hardtop that had to be redesigned due to quality issues. Even the revised top was met with criticism after the automaker was caught shipping newly manufactured Broncos instead of already made Broncos that should’ve had priority as per a customer email.

Given these circumstances, Jim Morrison couldn’t miss the chance to put Farley and the Ford Motor Company in their place. Speaking to Detroit News, the head of Jeep in North America said that “it’s going to rain on Saturday, so I don’t think there will be any Broncos here this weekend.”

Some people believe that revenge is best served cold, but Morrison should be aware that Wranglers aren’t exactly perfect either. Not only does FCA have a woeful reliability record, but when the JL and JLU were new, certain Wrangler vehicles were recalled over failing track bar bracket welds.
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About the author: Mircea Panait
Mircea Panait profile photo

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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