It has been two years since Ford has left India and yet its products still resonate with buyers with the Endeavour and EcoSport especially having a large fan following. That said, Ford India won't return for the foreseeable future but it did once have a plan to bring some imported products to India and this could have been one of the best ones. Yes, meet the Ford Bronco- a tough SUV to lock horns with the likes of the Jeep Wrangler and the Land Rover Defender.
While not available in India, we managed to find one and take it for a spin but the back story on how a Ford Bronco ended up in India is also quite intriguing. Most owners would bring imported cars for a short period by Carnet but Jasmeet Singh Sahni from Canada actually drove this Bronco 19,000 km all the way to India and does not plan to stop here either. The car has covered 40 countries in the process while having only one service!
Now that you know about how this Bronco came to India, let's talk about the car itself. The Bronco is a huge beast and is boxy like all off-roaders but this new version takes inspiration from the classic Bronco which was a very popular SUV way back in the 60s. Ford brought it back in a new avatar to cater to a new demand for lifestyle off-roaders. It is a purpose built off-roader but the round headlamps plus the fuss free design all point to its main highlight.
The massive 37-inch tyres and the huge ground clearance also means that you can just go over anything or take it anywhere. Look around and there is no Ford logo while it shares its platform with the rugged Ranger pick-up.
Climb in and it is surprisingly practical while there are admittedly hard plastics around but you get the sense that durability matters. It is water resistant and the controls are large which makes it easy to use on the go- no touch buttons here and all that.
There is a large SYNC screen and all of the features while down there is the 'GOAT' dial which isn't the greatest of all time but goes over any type of terrain. You can remove the roof and doors too like on a Wrangler but with less time on hands, I started the 2.7-litre Ecoboost V6 engine immediately. It is a powerful SUV with 310 bhp and it drives surprisingly well.
The independent front suspension means it is not really bouncy and the light steering is similar to the Endeavour too. Once used to the width, you can easily drive it around in tight traffic while getting used to left hand drive is the only issue.
A 10-speed automatic is standard and a proper 4x4 system is in place too with a transfer case along with engaging 2H or 4H on demand. We did not do any off-roading but climbing over some rocks and generally taking to broken roads showed how easily the Bronco tackles the rough stuff.
It drives like a big off-roader but isn't exactly too compromised for everyday use and is closer to the Land Rover Defender in being easy to use yet being a tough beast to withstand nearly everything.
Not surprisingly, the Bronco is a huge hit overseas in its home market and we do wish we had cars like these. Overall, driving the Bronco in India was fun and we hope Ford comes back while at least bringing some of its global range to our market in CBU form. Fingers crossed!
