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Finally made it over to the auto show this morning. This was our first time seeing the full-size Bronco in person. I have lots of thoughts here, and a picture dump. I really wanted this year's trip to the show to be all about the Jeep I was going to order, but as we all know - July 14 turned out to be a flop. Seeing and playing with the (Grand) Wagoneer was pretty cool though!
Bronco Experience
The Bronco experience they set up for the show was pretty underwhelming. Ford has had so long to study Jeep's marketing to have missed the mark so bad here. We were in line for the test track within 30 minutes of the show opening, and we still had to wait in line for close to 90 minutes. They only had 4 Broncos running the loop, and it was painfully slow. They tried to engage you while you waited with signage and some marketing about Bronco heritage. It was neat, but not neat enough to justify the time waiting. There were plenty of subtle digs at Jeep that were probably missed by 90% of the crowd. Conversely, there are some genuinely cool things about the Bronco that I felt like they didn't brag about enough (removable quarter panels!). The whole rollout of the Bronco brand seems to have been poorly executed IMO, because their messaging about the Bronco Sport versus the Bronco was all over the map. They'd switch which they were talking about mid-spiel and I could tell people weren't following.
Bronco Test Track
Ok, so I was impatient by the time we got in to a Bronco, but honestly that feeling faded almost immediately. The lead up and waiting did Ford no favors, but the Bronco itself was pretty impressive. It felt like sitting in a piece of next-gen tech. The seating was fantastic, and the 360 camera and 4 corner cameras were incredible. I did not want to get out of this Bronco. Do I want one? No - it has lots of awkward angles and the hardtop was especially bulky and goofy looking. Cool, but not for me. The ride only made me realize how disappointing uConnect 4 is. Jeep should be so ahead of the game on the camera systems this thing had. Also - lead times are about 18 months right now.
My wife: "Why couldn't they make it look like that??" ... Well, they tried.
Look at all these cool accessories! Like ... Nalgenes!
Pit stop shenanigans. Lots of extra parts and things in those tents.
Incredible camera system. This is a split view of FL and FR tires.
Bird's eye view. Amazing.
Lots of data collection going on.
So that's it for Bronco. Overall very impressed and really want Jeep to catch up on the tech front. I was also pleased with the interior options - I'd like more plastic options in JL/JT than just black. Bring back saddle!
Up next, the new Nissan Frontier! I'm mostly excited about this because when I rent a beater truck for field work it's usually a Frontier. Looking forward to them getting nicer. They only had one at the show.
Still cheapy, but much much better!
OK, up next was the Grand Wagoneer. This thing has a friggin fridge in the center console. It was nuts. I honestly do not know if I have ever sat in a nicer vehicle. The build quality was super evident, too.
More screens than I could count in here.
Screens everywhere.
The fridge. It was so cold!!
Ok, that's it for the GW. On to the JL/JTs!
Jeep JL/JT
The test track looked the same as always - but note they had like an order of magnitude more vehicles on the track than Ford had Broncos. Jeep's whole show setup made Ford look like amateurs. However, the Jeeps on display were a little underwhelming. I did notice that they didn't have any with tan leather, probably because of the blue jeans staining problem I saw at the show in 2019. Again, after sitting in the Bronco, the JL/JT interior does feel a little bit dated. They have got to up their game.
Nothing crazy to see or report. Extreme Recon was on hand, but honestly I had to ask a rep to make sure I was looking at it. Kinda just looks like a nice Jeep in person.
Coolest thing to see was the Orange Peelz concept.
So anyways, there you have it! Pretty bummed there wasn't more to report on MY 2022, but I'm hoping that since it hasn't quietly released yet there will be some significant (fun?) changes or options. In a somewhat related thought, the Toyota Tundra display was desolate! It was all 2021s and nobody cares because the 2022 has already been shown off.
Bronco Experience
The Bronco experience they set up for the show was pretty underwhelming. Ford has had so long to study Jeep's marketing to have missed the mark so bad here. We were in line for the test track within 30 minutes of the show opening, and we still had to wait in line for close to 90 minutes. They only had 4 Broncos running the loop, and it was painfully slow. They tried to engage you while you waited with signage and some marketing about Bronco heritage. It was neat, but not neat enough to justify the time waiting. There were plenty of subtle digs at Jeep that were probably missed by 90% of the crowd. Conversely, there are some genuinely cool things about the Bronco that I felt like they didn't brag about enough (removable quarter panels!). The whole rollout of the Bronco brand seems to have been poorly executed IMO, because their messaging about the Bronco Sport versus the Bronco was all over the map. They'd switch which they were talking about mid-spiel and I could tell people weren't following.
Bronco Test Track
Ok, so I was impatient by the time we got in to a Bronco, but honestly that feeling faded almost immediately. The lead up and waiting did Ford no favors, but the Bronco itself was pretty impressive. It felt like sitting in a piece of next-gen tech. The seating was fantastic, and the 360 camera and 4 corner cameras were incredible. I did not want to get out of this Bronco. Do I want one? No - it has lots of awkward angles and the hardtop was especially bulky and goofy looking. Cool, but not for me. The ride only made me realize how disappointing uConnect 4 is. Jeep should be so ahead of the game on the camera systems this thing had. Also - lead times are about 18 months right now.
My wife: "Why couldn't they make it look like that??" ... Well, they tried.
Look at all these cool accessories! Like ... Nalgenes!
Pit stop shenanigans. Lots of extra parts and things in those tents.
Incredible camera system. This is a split view of FL and FR tires.
Bird's eye view. Amazing.
Lots of data collection going on.
So that's it for Bronco. Overall very impressed and really want Jeep to catch up on the tech front. I was also pleased with the interior options - I'd like more plastic options in JL/JT than just black. Bring back saddle!
Up next, the new Nissan Frontier! I'm mostly excited about this because when I rent a beater truck for field work it's usually a Frontier. Looking forward to them getting nicer. They only had one at the show.
Still cheapy, but much much better!
OK, up next was the Grand Wagoneer. This thing has a friggin fridge in the center console. It was nuts. I honestly do not know if I have ever sat in a nicer vehicle. The build quality was super evident, too.
More screens than I could count in here.
Screens everywhere.
The fridge. It was so cold!!
Ok, that's it for the GW. On to the JL/JTs!
Jeep JL/JT
The test track looked the same as always - but note they had like an order of magnitude more vehicles on the track than Ford had Broncos. Jeep's whole show setup made Ford look like amateurs. However, the Jeeps on display were a little underwhelming. I did notice that they didn't have any with tan leather, probably because of the blue jeans staining problem I saw at the show in 2019. Again, after sitting in the Bronco, the JL/JT interior does feel a little bit dated. They have got to up their game.
Nothing crazy to see or report. Extreme Recon was on hand, but honestly I had to ask a rep to make sure I was looking at it. Kinda just looks like a nice Jeep in person.
Coolest thing to see was the Orange Peelz concept.
So anyways, there you have it! Pretty bummed there wasn't more to report on MY 2022, but I'm hoping that since it hasn't quietly released yet there will be some significant (fun?) changes or options. In a somewhat related thought, the Toyota Tundra display was desolate! It was all 2021s and nobody cares because the 2022 has already been shown off.
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