Like any good record collection, the Ford Bronco has always got some Rumors (Fleetwood Mac). The Ford Bronco and Jeep Gladiator / Wrangler beef has been growing over the past year. Now we see Ford testing a Jeep Gladiator in a confusing cross manufacturing mixup. Could this signal interest from Ford in making a Bronco pickup truck? 

Is there going to be a Ford Bronco pickup truck? 

According to The Drive, The new Ford Bronco came from a pickup truck in the first place. The rugged 2021 Ford Bronco that has everyone waiting in anticipation was built on the Ford Ranger frame. Knowing that makes it seem like the transition back to a pickup truck wouldn’t be all that hard. 

The rumors have been spreading for a while now, but we are starting to see some real evidence suggesting that the Bronco might be getting a truck verison within the next handful of years. 

In keeping with the Jeep rivalry, the theoretical Bronco truck will likely have its sights set on the Jeep Gladiator. 

What’s a Jeep doing on Ford land? 

Ford Authority recently shared some photos of a Jeep leaving what is believed to be Ford testing property wearing Michigan manufacturer plates. For the first clue, these types of plates are only for car companies to use on their pre-production prototypes, press cars, company cars, or brought-in models from rivals for testing.

If this is, in fact, a Ford property, it may signal that the Bronco Warthog might have its sights on the more desert-running Jeep Gladiator Mohave instead of the more rock-crawler-focused Rubicon. 

This all feels very far away

Seeing as how the regular Bronco hasn’t been able to keep to its production and delivery schedule, it is unlikely we will see any Bronco trucks anytime soon. We first heard about them last July. The soonest we could see one of these would likely be 2023 and as late as 2025. 

Reports suggest that the Bronco’s full line of powertrain options will be available, except for the 3.0-liter EcoBoost used to power the Bronco Warthog. Like everything else, the Bronco will likely also see an all-electric option at some point too.

Ford keeps dropping hints that it plans to do an EV in the Bronco family. So far, the teaser images have hinted at making the EV more in the Bronco Sport size. The truck platform Bronco will stay the same for a while. 

With the news that Ford offers the Maverick pickup in hybrid and the all-electric Ford F-150 Lightning with a monster range, the Ford Bronco Sport EV is stepping into a strong EV/hybrid line. This means it will have to come correct. 

Ford has made it abundantly clear that not only is it dedicated to an electric future, but that it also means to do so as quickly as possible. 

The Ford Bronco is quickly becoming a living legend

While the regular Bronco remains highly coveted and hotly anticipated, it’s hard to see how the addition of a pickup truck version could do anything other than send the Bronco line to the moon and back.