Report: Ford Bronco Sport Delayed; Soft-roading Dreams, Too

The lesser of two utility vehicles lined up to carry the Bronco name has reportedly been delayed for reasons that should surprise no one.

Production of Ford’s Bronco Sport, the retro-styled Escape sibling scheduled for a reveal at the New York International Auto Show, should, like the show itself, be pushed back by a matter of months. It’s looking like the original debut venue might get some use.

As reported by Automotive News, production of the Bronco Sport, originally scheduled to commence on July 13th, will instead go ahead on September 7th. That model calls Hermosillo, Mexico home. The U.S. gets its larger, body-on-frame stablemate.

Ford’s not commenting on the reported delay, which, if true, would lead to a pushback of the Bronco Sport’s early fall on-sale date. The coronavirus pandemic has laid waste to timelines across the industry, and Ford’s calendar was a crowded one for 2020. The automaker planned to get the Bronco reveals out of the way before devoting this fall to the next-generation F-150. Instead, the fast-moving pandemic scuttled the expected March reveal of the Bronco, then the Bronco Sport. The larger of the two models was expected to go on sale in early 2021; no word on how production timing might be impacted.

With the New York auto show postponed to the end of August, the Bronco Sport might get a Big Apple debut, after all.

Borrowing the platform and conventional (read: non-hybrid) powertrains of the compact Escape crossover and adding sheet metal all its own, the Bronco Sport has already hit the internet via a much-publicized leak. It seems Ford shunned the Escape’s pedestrian trim names in favor of something a little brawnier. In addition to the boxy body and inspirational naming convention, the model will further distance itself from its sibling by forgoing larger-than-necessary wheels.

[Image: BroncoSportForum]