Remember not long ago, when some cars were especially hard to get and certain automakers said they wanted to retain the ordering model instead of going back to incentives? Those hopes are coming to nothing, from the look of dealer lots and incentive listings at places like Cars Direct. It appears that Ford might have tired of putting money on the hood of the Bronco Sport and decided to lower the Escape-based crossover's MSRP. This is welcome news to us, as just three months ago, we wrote, "As much as we like the Bronco Sport, it is very pricey for an SUV of its size. It got even worse for 2024 since the base trim level was discontinued, leaving the Big Bend trim as the point of entry."
According to a dealer bulletin sent earlier this month, as seen by Cars Direct, the automaker trimmed a low-four-figure number off all but one Bronco Sport trim. New MSRPs for the 2025 Bronco Sport after the $1,595 destination charge, and their differences from previous pricing, are:
- Big Bend: $31,390 ($1,435 less)
- Heritage: $33,690 ($1,335 less)
- Free Wheeling: $33,990 ($1,335 less)
- Outer Banks: $35,530 ($1,980 less)
- Badlands: $39,985 (No change)
At the entry-level end, the Bronco Big Bend costs just $300 more than the vanilla Escape Active; price gaps grow from there, however, to around $2,000 depending on trim. And for some reason, the Bronco Sport's destination charge is $100 more than the Escape's.
At the other end, only the Badlands trim holds steady, which might not be a bad thing; the previous $2,515 price delta between it and the Outer Banks below is now $4,450. Not that we're advocating for higher prices, but that latter sum sounds like a more realistic premium to get equipment like the front tow hooks, torque-vectoring rear diff, additional transmission and rear-drive coolers, skid plates, all-terrain tires and unique Badlands suspension.
The Bronco Sport put up great numbers last year, selling 127,476 units in the U.S. for 2023, a more than 30% gain over the 99,547 sales registered in 2022. In December, Ford offered incentives of up to $4,500 for the 2023 Bronco Sport. Dealers got another 31,565 off lots in the first quarter of this year, a 6% gain over Q1 2023. This quarter will show whether the price cuts will have the same effect as cash back.
