The electrified Bronco from Nanchang is heading Down Under

Short overhangs, mud everywhere, heavy ladder frames, and locking differentials scraping over boulders in Moab. That's the image I see when I hear the words "Ford Bronco." It's a car you could compare to a pair of muddy steel-toed work boots. But the auto universe has a funny way of upending tradition when nobody is looking. Ford is officially bringing a brand-new, factory-built camper SUV to Australia and New Zealand for the second half of 2027. It wears the famous bucking horse on its nose, but it shatters every unwritten rule in the American 4x4 playbook. It's not even made in the US.

The 2027 Ford Bronco Basecamp. In its domestic Chinese market, where it rolls out of a joint-venture facility operated with Jiangling Motors Corporation (JMC), it is known under a somewhat clinical moniker: the Bronco New Energy. For the Australasian market, Ford's product planners wisely opted for something evocative of red dirt and campfire smoke.

But do not let the squared-off jawline or the spare wheel slung across the tailgate trick you. This is not the body-on-frame, Australian-engineered platform cousin of the Ranger ute and Everest SUV. It's not even the transverse-engined Bronco Sport sold in North America, which shares its family tree with the humble Focus and Escape. Instead, this is a car-derived unibody machine - engineered and built in China to answer a completely different question: what if your vehicle wasn't meant to conquer the wilderness, but rather pretend to be a mobile hotel room?

The mechanical heartbeat of the Bronco makes this clear. Western carmakers have spent years wrestling with the weight and infrastructure bottlenecks of monster-sized battery packs, but Chinese manufacturers perfected the range-extender electric vehicle (REEV) - and Ford has raided that parts bin. Under the bonnet we have a 1.5-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine, but it doesn't spin an axle, connect to a gearbox, or drive a single wheel. Its only job in life is to hum along at optimal revs as an onboard generator, charging a 49 kWh LFP battery pack.

In its home market, the Bronco has a 130 kW motor on the front axle and a 190 kW unit at the rear. That delivers a combined 310 kW (around 416 horsepower) and 443 lb-ft of torque to all four wheels. Ford expects local versions to have around 112 miles of pure-electric driving range for daily duties. When the petrol engine sparks up to keep the battery topped up, the total range stretches between 497 miles and 559 miles.

The Bronco Basecamp is a big piece of kit, stretching 197.8 inches from grille to spare wheel, measuring 77.2 inches wide, standing 71.5 inches tall, and riding on a 116.1 inches wheelbase. Its closest competitor, the ladder-frame GWM Tank 500 plug-in hybrid, is already available in Australia for $79,990. That rig is 199.9 inches long, 76.1 inches wide, and stands taller at 75 inches, yet sits on a shorter 112.2 inches wheelbase. Then there is luxury off-roader from BYD, the Denza B5, starting at $74,990, which checks in at 192.5 inches long, 77.6 inches wide, 75.6 inches tall, with a 110.2 inches wheelbase.

There is, of course, a competition sitting right on the other side of Ford's own showroom floor: the Everest. The Aussie-developed, diesel-powered Everest is 193.5 inches long, 75.7 inches wide, and 72.3 inches tall with a 114.2 inches wheelbase. And yet, despite being a five-seat monocoque crossover rather than a traditional three-row truck, the Bronco Basecamp weighs over 5,512 lb, making it heavier than a seven-seat Everest. Ford's engineers are quite candid about the trade-offs: the Bronco has ample ground clearance and dual-motor all-wheel drive, but it won't claw its way up rocky, axle-twisting trails like an Everest. It is designed for forest trails, fire roads, and beach paths rather than rock-hopping.

Where the Bronco Basecamp really comes into its own is after you switch it off. The flagship Outer Banks model has a motorized pop-up roof that rises at the push of a button, complete with unzippable fabric gussets that let coastal breezes filter through while keeping the insects out. Inside, both rows of seats fold dead flat. Ford's inflatable mattress accessory transforms the cabin into a full-length double bedroom.

There is a 7.5-litre compartment in the centre console that can heat meat pies or chill drinks on the move. Swing open the rear tailgate, and you find the "Wild Kitchen" - a fold-out table engineered specifically for prepping meals outdoors. But the real masterstroke is the 6.6 kW Pro Power Onboard system. Drawing from that big LFP pack, it offers enough off-grid electricity to run an induction cooktop, an espresso machine, lights, and camping fridges.

The entire Bronco "project" is a serious U-turn for Ford. After burning billions on high-cost battery-electric platforms only to watch mainstream consumer demand stall over pricing and charging gaps, the Blue Oval is rethinking its global approach. In Australia, Ford's previous electrified mid-sizer, the Escape PHEV, arrived late with an uninspiring package, and vanished into the sales history books with barely a trace by late 2023.

Using its JMC partnership in China, Ford bypasses the crippling development costs of designing a new hybrid platform from scratch, gaining immediate access to a mature, high-output range-extender powertrain that seems perfect for Australian landscapes.

When it lands in late 2027 in New Zealand and Australia, the Bronco Basecamp will have its work cut out. Ford knows the vehicle's Chinese assembly must translate into a competitive price if it wants to pull buyers away from hybrid crossovers like the Toyota RAV4 or larger Chinese off-road PHEVs. A realistic pricing sweet spot between the mid-$60,000 and low-$70,000 mark would give Ford an attractive SUV that undercuts dedicated off-road utes with far more lifestyle flair than a conventional soft-roader.

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