Baby Bronco to Benefit From New Product Development Plan at Ford

Bronco. The name gets people excited. And while we await the return of the body-on-frame SUV in 2020, we have learned a few details about another vehicle in the works, the one that has been dubbed the baby Bronco.

The unnamed small off-roader that Ford will add to the lineup by 2020 may have some styling cues to tie it to big brother Bronco (shown in the teaser below) but its bones are very different. It will be a small, car-based crossover, not a truck-based SUV. While Bronco shares underpinnings with the Ford Ranger, the small off-roader will use the same front-wheel-drive unibody architecture as the next-generation Ford Focus, EcoSport, Escape, and even midsize vehicles as Ford changes up its platform strategy.

But it will definitely not just be a capable Focus, said Hau Thai-Tang, Ford’s executive vice president in charge of product development and purchasing. As an off-roader it must have the right approach, departure, and breakover angles which will determine the proportions. It also must meet durability criteria and have the appropriate tech. That includes the All-Terrain management system from the Explorer, Trail Control from the Ranger, and of course all-wheel drive. “This is not just a dressed-up Focus,” said Thai-Tang. “It is an authentic and capable off-road vehicle.”

Making this possible is Ford’s new approach to product development. The automaker is going from nine global platforms to five flexible architectures with shared modules for chunks of vehicles like a suspension, AWD system, or heating and ventilation unit.

In a product update at an event in conjunction with the Woodward Dream Cruise, Thai-Tang tried to clarify the automaker’s new approach to product development. By having fewer and more flexible architectures that can change their wheelbase as well as track width, they can accommodate a wider range of vehicles without large investment in tearing up a plant to do so.

The other big change is more modules will follow the example of powertrains that are developed with their own budget and a plan of which vehicles they will go into. Ford wants to do the same with its AWD systems, for example, and HVAC, sun roofs, and some suspensions. Making them their own little business entities as opposed to being part of the overall vehicle program also allows a suspension to have a 10-year lifespan before it needs to be updated while an infotainment system might need to be updated after 18 months. Their individual capital and product plans can take these factors into account. The idea is to be able to share 70 percent of the value of the vehicle with other vehicles.

Under CEO Jim Hackett, Ford will have nine all-new nameplates in the next five years; seven are trucks and SUVs including the Ranger, Bronco, and small off-roader. While many cars are disappearing from the lineup, the number of nameplates will expand to 23 from 20 today. Ford has lost some competitive edge with one of the older lineups in the industry but the average age of the portfolio will go from 5.7 years old now to 3.3 years in 2020, Thai-Tang said.

One other change: Ford will be quicker to pull the trigger on vehicles that are not performing in the future. So buy your Ford Flex now…

 

 

 

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