2021 Ford Bronco Will Get Primetime Debut July 13 Thanks To Disney

Ford’s hotly anticipated Bronco SUV will make its debut on TV, including ABC, ESPN, and National Geographic.

The Blue Oval is gearing up for a huge new reveal. No, not the F-150; that already happened. As important as America’s best-selling vehicle is, Ford has another model it wants to share with the world. We’re talking about the reborn Bronco—and to debut it, Ford is partnering with a titan of another industry, Disney.

The road to the new Bronco has been a long one. Back at the beginning of 2020, Ford targeted June’s Detroit Auto Show as the 2021 Ford Bronco debut venue. Of course, a global pandemic happened, derailing that plan. More recently, Ford announced July 9 as the day we’d finally see the new SUV. Unfortunately, the internet realized this was OJ Simpson’s birthday—the man arguably most associated with the Bronco after his 1994 highway chase in one. Whoops. Ford moved the date to the following Thursday, and it’s enrolled the Mouse House to help make a big splash.

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The American company will air three custom 3-minute films shortly after 8:00 PM ET that day. They’ll show up in the first commercial break on three networks: ABC, ESPN, and National Geographic. Streaming site Hulu will feature all of them on July 14. In addition, Ford has enlisted Disney’s CreativeWorks department and professional climber (and director) Jimmy Chin to create the short videos. Chin won an Academy Award last year for his  documentary, which was a collaboration between him and his wife Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi.

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Perhaps most surprising here is that Ford has called this a debut for the “Bronco family.” This could mean we’ll see not just the Jeep Wrangler competitor, but also the smaller, more road-oriented Bronco Sport. Both models are expected to feature EcoBoost engine lineups, while the larger Bronco will get removable body panels and a seven-speed manual transmission.