QOTD: Where to Bump Up the Brawn?

Ford is anything but a conversation killer these days. Love their ideas or hate them, the boys and girls at the Blue Oval seem pretty confident that they know what works in the near automotive future.

One ploy is the bold step of splitting a model in two. No longer will one mainstream crossover attempt to be most things to most people. Instead, you’ll get the Escape, newly urbanized for the 2020 model year, and a similar-sized (but not shaped) platform mate gunning for a more rugged set of buyers. Two vehicles, one brand, one segment.

If this becomes a trend, where should it strike next?

We’ve told you about the 2020 Escape already, but Ford’s keeping details of its so-called “Baby Bronco” under wraps for now. Designed to capitalize on the upcoming body-on-frame Bronco, the smaller, Euro Focus-based compact crossover will apparently do its best to mimic its larger, more capable brother.

One hopes there’s more to it than just squared-off Bronco-esque proportions and prodigious body cladding. We saw what happened when Toyota took its RAV4 and gave it the TRD treatment. Leg day at the gym, essentially. Toyota’s RAV4 TRD boasts the same ground clearance and overhangs as the RAV4 Adventure, with sturdier shocks and meatier tires to make the markup worthwhile.

Even after being contacted, Ford wouldn’t fill us in on the 2020 Escape’s ground clearance, which wasn’t listed in a spec sheet that touted the revamped model’s car-like prowess and cargo-carrying, gas station-dodging versatility and efficiency. In terms of traversing rocks, it’s hard to say where the starting point in this Jekyll and Hyde two-fer really is. Suffice it to say, the Baby Bronco can’t hack it on looks alone; real off-road capability had best be in the offing.

If Ford pulls in more buyers with two versions of what’s essentially the same vehicle, industry rivals make take note. Looking around the auto landscape, where else do you see this strategy paying off? More specifically, where do you want to see it pulled off?

Which model deserves an alter ego?

[Images: Ford Motor Company]