The upcoming Ford Bronco's reason for being is to compete with the Jeep Wrangler. Ford apparently has its sights on the Wrangler-based Gladiator pickup, too, because according to a new rumor, the Blue Oval is planning on building a Bronco-based pickup truck to go head-to-head with Jeep's midsize truck.

Shown above, a speculative rendering of what the new Bronco SUV might look like, from the fan site Bronco6G.com.

Automobile magazine reports that Ford is working on a Bronco-based pickup, citing intel from industry analyst AutoForecast Solutions. AutoForecast says the new, off-road-focused truck will begin production in July 2024, nearly four years after the Bronco SUV is expected to arrive at dealers.

Why the delay? Ford already plans on launching two pickups in the coming years—an all-new Ranger (which will provide the chassis for the upcoming Bronco) and an even smaller pickup based on the front-drive unibody platform that underpins the Focus hatchback. So AutoForecast's prediction that the Bronco pickup will come a few years after the SUV makes sense. An anonymous source seemed to confirm this, telling Automobile that the Bronco-based pickup would not arrive until 2022 at the very earliest.

You might be aware that Ford already has an off-road-focused mid-size pickup in the form of the Ranger Raptor. This current truck won't be sold in the US, but it's highly likely that the next-generation Ranger Raptor will be available here. It may seem unusual to offer two off-road-ready midsize pickups at the same time, but we expect the next-generation Ranger to be a thoroughly modern-style truck, whereas the rumored Bronco-based pickup would likely have more retro styling. That might tempt some would-be Gladiator-buyers away from Jeep dealerships.

When asked for comment, a Ford spokesperson said "we don’t comment on speculation about future products."

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