Ford is building a Bronco-based pickup truck, and it plans to have it on sale by the end of the decade. The news, reported by Automotive News, confirms what has been whispered about for years but repeatedly delayed. A Bronco pickup was originally expected in the first half of the 2020s, but now it is penciled in for around 2030.
The logic is simple. Ford sold 146,007 Broncos in 2025, a 34 percent jump over the prior year. The Bronco Sport crossover has moved more than 124,000 units annually for three straight years. Ford wants to squeeze every dollar it can from the name.
The truck will be built at the Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne alongside other Bronco variants, displacing the Ranger from that facility. Ford plans to relocate Ranger production to the Tennessee Truck Plant, the site formerly known as the BlueOval City campus. That campus was supposed to anchor Ford’s electric vehicle future, but now it will build a next-generation mid-size gas truck, likely around 2029.
That pivot tells you everything about where Ford’s priorities have drifted.
Before the pickup arrives, Ford will introduce a Bronco hybrid, expected as a 2028 model and possibly paired with a visual refresh. The hybrid comes first; the truck follows. Ford declined to comment on the report.
The target is obvious. Jeep’s Gladiator has owned the mid-size off-road pickup segment largely unopposed, and Jeep itself is expected to fold the Gladiator more tightly into the Wrangler family in the coming years. A Bronco pickup would give Ford a direct competitor with serious brand equity and an established aftermarket ecosystem already built around the Bronco platform.
The Bronco pickup is part of a broader pattern at Ford. The company is stretching its strongest nameplates into full vehicle families. The Mustang already spawned the Mach-E electric SUV, and Ford is now developing a four-door Mustang sedan due around 2030 alongside the next-generation coupe.
Both Mustangs are expected to start under $40,000. A hybrid powertrain and a V-8 remain on the table.
Ford is also reportedly planning a new van, smaller than the current Transit, to be built at the Ohio Assembly Plant in Avon Lake starting in 2029. The company killed the Transit Connect in the U.S. after 2023, right when Ram, Mercedes-Benz, and Nissan also abandoned compact commercial vans. Now Ram is coming back with the 2027 ProMaster City, and Ford apparently does not intend to cede that ground.
Sources told Automotive News the new Ford van will be larger than the old Transit Connect, closer in size to the Transit Custom sold in Europe. It will offer both gas and hybrid powertrains.
Ford’s product strategy right now reads like a company that got burned chasing electrification too aggressively and is now retreating to what it knows: trucks, SUVs, vans, and nameplates that already sell. The BlueOval City campus becoming a Ranger factory is perhaps the most telling detail in this entire report. Billions in EV investment, repurposed for internal combustion.
Whether a Bronco pickup actually hits the market by 2030 is another question. Ford promised this truck once before and shelved it. The difference now is that the Bronco’s sales numbers have made the business case almost impossible to ignore, and Jeep’s Gladiator has proven that enthusiasts will pay a premium for an open-air truck with real off-road capability.
Ford has the platform, the plant capacity, and the customer base. What it needs is the discipline to actually deliver on time.
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