Ford Bronco Raptor SUV is a ‘desert-racing beast,” CEO says

DETROIT – Ford Motor is increasing its Bronco SUV lineup to incorporate a brand new Raptor mannequin that may go on sale later this 12 months beginning at about $70,000.

The 2022 Ford Bronco Raptor provides to an already vast lineup of the favored SUVs because the automaker makes an attempt to meet an order financial institution of tens of hundreds of reservation holders for present fashions. Ford stated a majority of the primary new Raptor fashions can be provided to current reservation holders, adopted by orders opening in March and deliveries starting in the summertime.

“We poured all of our ardour and all of our Bronco and Raptor know-how into creating this absolute desert-racing beast,” Ford CEO Jim Farley stated in a launch.

Automakers have more and more been including efficiency fashions to their lineups as a strategy to beef-up revenue margins on autos and generate consideration. Most just lately, Basic Motors final week introduced a brand new high-performance Cadillac Escalade mannequin.

Ford makes use of the Raptor title for efficiency, high-speed off-road variations of its standard F-150 pickup in North America and a Ranger midsize pickup in world markets. The title has a fan following, which Ford will attempt to replicate with Bronco homeowners.

“That is really not solely a Bronco, however it has earned the Raptor badge,” Derek Bier, Ford efficiency car engineering supervisor, stated throughout a media occasion.

The Bronco Raptor seems to be much like present fashions however includes a host of recent efficiency and off-road elements particularly designed for desert racing in addition to excessive rock crawling. It’s additionally almost 10 inches wider than the present fashions, a trait shared with F-150 Raptors.

The car additionally includes a “FORD” Raptor grill much like the F-150; enhanced hood, together with further vents for cooling the engine; distinctive tail lights; and upscale inside, together with further structural bars and a brand new 12-inch driver instrument cluster.

“It’s a really, very high-performance car,” stated Paul Wraith, Bronco design chief. “It is a hungry beast. It wants cooling.”

The Bronco Raptor can be powered by a 3.0 liter twin-turbo engine that’s anticipated to generate greater than 400 horsepower, in accordance with Ford. That compares with the Bronco’s present prime engine, a 2.7-liter twin-turbo engine with as much as 330 horsepower.

The Bronco Raptor will begin at $69,995, Ford stated. Beginning pricing of present Broncos vary from about $30,000 to $50,000.