Ford revealed a few teasers of the upcoming lineup a few days ago. With the shots, the car manufacturer has proven that they have some big plans for its off-road department. Blue Oval is not only working on the F-150 Hybrid pickup truck and the new-generation Bronco but also on the all-new pint-sized SUV. The unnamed vehicle has been teased by a single shot which doesn’t reveal much. However, our photographers have managed to catch a quite odd Fiesta a few hours ago that may tell us more about the Ford compact off-road SUV, which is also known as the Baby Bronco for now.
This so-called Baby Bronco has pointed out just a few cues with the earlier teaser. The shot has shown a boxy exterior styling with pretty round corners, as well as a muscular hood, and a quite unusual grille treatment. The wheels seem far enough from the ground, so the compact SUV could actually go off-roading, though the meaty fender flares don’t look promising at all.
As for the Ford Fiesta mule, we were talking about earlier, well, the compact hatchback isn’t as compact as we’ve used to. Instead, the vehicle sports a widened track and a bit longer body in order to accommodate all necessary components of the Baby Bronco. Aside it features the extended fenders and longer wheelbase, the “Fiesta” is also lifted high from the ground, which is one more giveaway that we this is not any ordinary Fiesta model, but something, well, totally different.
The Baby Bronco should fight against Volkswagen’s all-new T-Roc and Jeep’s Renegade SUVs, so except it needs to offer better off-road features, the SUV has to have a bit better powertrain and tech. Under the hood, the Ford compact off-road SUV will likely rely on a turbocharged 2.0-liter engine. The EcoBoost mill will reportedly be modified, so we expect more and torque from today’s 245 hp and 275 lb-ft of twist. The base model will likely rely on a 1.5-liter turbo which is currently making 179 hp and 177 lb-ft of twist. According to out insiders Ford will use Dana solid axle for the new Bronco, though we are not so sure will the feature be available with the baby variant as well.
In any case, Ford compact off-road SUV won’t be introduced before 2020, so there is plenty of time to figure out what’s cooking.
