We have the Bronco. We have the Bronco Sport. Soon, there will be a third—a plug-in hybrid model built on yet another architecture, expanding the family to three distinct vehicles. The catch? We won’t see it here in America. The plug-in hybrid model will be sold exclusively in Europe—at least for now.
This story comes to us by way of Automotive News, whose report said that the new model would be a “chunky” compact SUV (so, think Bronco Sport) not based on the same platform (so, stop thinking Bronco Sport). In fact, it will be on an even smaller platform than the Ford Kuga (Europe’s Escape, on the same platform as the Bronco Sport). This would potentially make it even smaller than Toyota’s new mini-off-road Land Cruiser FJ, which the company’s execs say is too small for America.
Adam already broke that down for us, so there’s no sense in me duplicating his work. Here it is:
The Land Cruiser FJ measures 180.1 inches long, which is 13.5 inches longer than a Jeep Renegade, a vehicle that I think everyone can agree was small. The new RAV4, which is pretty imposing in person compared to the old one, is merely one or two inches longer than the FJ, depending on trim. And believe it or not, the FJ trounces both in height. At 77.2 inches tall, it’s more than 10 inches higher than a RAV4 without any roof accessories.
At 180 inches, the baby FJ is also longer than the two-door Jeep Wrangler (~171 inches) and Ford Bronco (~174 inches). Meanwhile, the Bronco Sport checks in at about 173 inches. Whatever Ford of Europe has in mind, it’s going to be pretty tiny.
Perhaps predictably at this point, there’s been no movement on the full-size plug-in Bronco front. Its platform mate, the Ranger, is offered as a PHEV in Europe; its chief rival, the Wrangler, has one here at home.
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Byron is an editor at The Drive with a keen eye for infrastructure, sales and regulatory stories.
