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Ford Bronco is right-hand drive capable, says Ford engineer

Ford is yet to confirm that a right-hand drive Bronco will be coming, but a recent interview has confirmed that it's far from impossible, and could pave the way for an Australian-delivered Bronco in the future.


News and forum website Ford Authority quotes Paul Wraith, Bronco and Bronco Sport chief designer, who said that a right-hand drive Bronco is definitely feasible, and not overly challenging from and engineering point of view.

“Underneath the Bronco is its closest cousin – if you will – the Ranger… so the platform is capable of right hand drive.”

While we’ve known for a long time that the Bronco shares a lot of underpinnings with the Australian-developed Ford T6 Ranger platform, this is the first time somebody from Ford has gone on the record saying that a right-hook Bronco is definitely possible.

However, we should also note that Ford has repeatedly gone on the record to say that we shouldn’t expect a right-hand drive Bronco any time soon.

Wraith continues: “But we did look at right hand drive, and Bronco is intensely famous here in the U.S. But it’s pretty famous, or at least it was famous, elsewhere in the world. We’re always open to do all sorts of things in the future, but right now, we’re left hand drive focused.”

 

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While Wraith didn't rule it in, he also stopped short of ruling out.

When Ford Australia CEO Andrew Bircic was questioned recently about the Bronco, he was hesitant to confirm anything about the four-wheel drive coming to Australia.

“I've got nothing to share on it other than saying that the Bronco has been an amazing launch. As a long-term Ford employee, I'm really excited by what we saw," Mr Bircic said.

“I think it's a great example of the design process and Ford having a laser focus on the customer in the US. It is left-hand-drive only. So, nothing to share on that, other than we're thrilled with the way it's gone (in the US). They've done an amazing job.”

Since launching to worldwide acclaim in July 2020, Ford has since racked up 230,000 $100 deposits for the Bronco (not including the Bronco Sport). Although deliveries will start landing in June 2021, the launch success means deposit holders are already bracing for a twelve month delay.

Perhaps after the desires of the left-hand drive market has been sated, Ford will begin to look for other, smaller markets.

Never say never. Please, Ford. Please do it.

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Sam Purcell

Sam Purcell has been writing about cars, four-wheel driving and camping since 2013, and obsessed with anything that goes brum-brum longer than he can remember. Sam joined the team at CarAdvice/Drive as the off-road Editor in 2018, after cutting his teeth at Unsealed 4X4 and Pat Callinan’s 4X4 Adventures.

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