Ford's Mystery Compact SUV to Join the All-New Bronco in Company's upcoming lineup.

author: Manish Kharinta   

Early this year, Ford unveiled its electrification plans for the company's future offerings. The American automaker disclosed details about the Mustang GT500 and its plans for the new Bronco SUV. Following this, Ford also announced that it will be pulling out of the sedan segment. Now, the company has officially released some pictures which reveal further details about the carmaker's plans and a mystery offering.

It is likely that Ford's upcoming lineup of cars will feature a compact SUV which will sit below the Bronco in the company's lineup. This baby SUV will be placed in the segment where it will rival the likes of Jeep Renegade, while the Bronco will be pegged against the likes of Jeep Wrangler.

Unlike its bigger sibling, the compact SUV does not feature a rear rack for the spare tire which is also absent in the Jeep Wrangler. This teaser is a part of Ford's campaign to introduce four new models by the end of this decade. It is also possible that the company might also introduce an all-electric Mustang along with the compact SUV to complete its four-car lineup plan.

Speculations suggest that the American automaker is possibly working on a sports wagon version of its Fusion sedan. Ford has not revealed if the new compact SUV will get an electrified drivetrain.

The company also announced that there will be plug-in hybrid and hybrid versions available across its crossover and SUV lineup. Ford released a teaser shot to reveal that hybrid versions of the Explorer Edge, Escape and EcoSport SUV's will make their way into the company's future lineup of sport utility and crossover vehicles. It remains unclear if the Focus active Tall wagon crossover will also join this lineup of hybrid cars.

Ford announced earlier this year that's almost 50% of North America's entire automotive industry retail market is dominated by SUV sales. The company, therefore, decided to relocate $7 billion of investment capital from its car business to the development of its SUV segment. The company also confirmed that its SUV lineup will feature five high-performance models which will get hybrid drivetrains and one all-electric offering.

With Ford pushing into the hybrid segment on a large scale, it aims to compete with the likes of the current segment leader Toyota by the year 2021. We also expect to see a hybrid F-150 and Mustang make their way to dealerships across the U.S. by the year 2020.

Manish Kharinta

Manish Kharinta is a automotive writer based in the Los Angeles area. He has worked for automotive industry websites TheSmokingClutch.com, CarDekho.com and CarBikeindia.com. His experience ranges from covering auto shows, to car reviews and breaking automotive news. Manish aims to bring forth his unique perspective on automotive design and technological innovations in the automotive industry.