If you’re waiting for General Motors to launch a rival to the current Ford Bronco, the boss of GM has some bad news.
“I’m not gonna do a Bronco,” GM president Mark Reuss said in a recent interview with The Drive. At least, not one powered by an internal-combustion engine.
2023 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon 20th Anniversary Edition
While the Bronco has been a sales success for Ford, and the rival Jeep Wrangler remains a bright spot for Stellantis, Reuss said he isn’t interested in being “late to the party.” Launching a Bronco rival now would force GM to play catch-up to its Detroit rivals.
Reuss also expressed concern about the impact of a new body-on-frame off-roader on GM’s Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standings, claiming Ford has to sell vehicles like the Maverick hybrid pickup truck to balance out the large number of non-electrified models in its current lineup. He doesn’t want to put GM in the same position.
2024 GMC Hummer EV SUV
That doesn’t mean GM is getting out of the off-road game. In the interview, Reuss didn’t dismiss the idea of an electric off-roader. GM has already staked a claim on this idea with the GMC Hummer EV, which is based on the Ultium component set the automaker plans to use for a wide range of EVs across its brands. So instead of copying rivals, an electric off-roader would be in keeping with GM’s overall strategy.
GM is reportedly mulling a mid-size Hummer model that would likely be a better Bronco rival than the current Hummer EV, which stretches almost 217 inches weighs more than 9,000 pounds in pickup form. With Jeep set to launch its Wrangler-like Recon EV in 2024 that would, in a reverse of the current situation, leave Ford as the only Detroit automaker without an electric off-road SUV.
