Bronco Weekly #9

Chinese Bronco?

So far, Ford announced that it would be offering the new Bronco and Bronco Sport in North American and selected Middle Eastern and South American markets. Because both iterations of the Bronco nameplate have already shown enormous global popularity, we hope that Ford will eventually consider offering it worldwide in the near future, since we're sure that there are thousands of buyers in Europe and Australia just dying to get their hands on these vehicles.

On the other hand, Ford didn't say anything about selling Broncos in China, so an obscure local company called Haval (part of the Great Wall conglomerate) apparently saw that as an opportunity and presented an off-roader of their own, called the Haval Tank 300.

Designed as a capable off-road vehicle, the Tank 300 will be delivered with a choice of 2.0-liter gasoline or 2.4-liter diesel engines, with 3.0-liter V6 and hybrid versions soon to follow. All-wheel-drive is part of the standard package, as is  competent suspension, electronics and modern infotainment systems.

We're completely amazed by the design similarities the Tank 300 shows to the 2021 Bronco and Bronco Sport, especially up front. Chinese manufacturers have a long history of copying successful US and European designs, and it looks like this is one of those cases.

2021 Bronco Grilles Found on Craigslist

We know that people can't wait for the 2021 Bronco to hit the streets and the trails all over America. And, of course, we also know that customers can't wait to start modifying and enhancing their Broncos, but recently a very suspicious listing appeared on Craigslist. Somebody posted (then very quickly deleted) an offering for a pair of 2021 Bronco grilles.

We can't really tell if these were copies of official Ford products, if somebody stole some pre-production items or if they were taken off dismantled cars. 

Regardless, the grilles certainly looked authentic but, of course, never shouldn't have been offered for sale in the first place. As we noted, the ad was quickly removed after being posted, and when it did appear the seller never provided much information about the items.

Raptor and Bronco Will Be Sharing A Wheel Design

The introduction of the brand-new Raptor and recent spy shots of the Bronco Warthog during its testing raised a lot of questions -- most of them centered on the drive train, engine options, and technology shared by these two vehicles. While Ford hasn't yet released any official info, we can confidently say that the Bronco and Warthog will likely have a lot in common.

But, at this moment, one thing we can be sure about is this shared wheel design, which will be available as an option on both on the new Raptor and Bronco.