Photos of the 2021 Ford Bronco Sport — widely referred to as the “Baby Bronco” — have leaked, revealing the new Jeep Renegade competitor in all of its sheetmetal glory.

These leaked photographs come our way courtesy of BroncoSportForum.com and appear to depict a higher-trim model, which is what we’d expect Ford to be showing off early in the new trucklet’s lifecycle.

This is our first real look at Ford’s new junior 4×4, and while previous photos of prototypes gave us pretty strong hints at its overall shape and proportions, this is the first time we’ve been exposed to any of the details.

While the profile has reminded us of the aforementioned Renegade since we first saw it in production-intent form, this is more than just a simple knockoff of FCA’s Fiat-based Jeep. If anything, the Bronco Sport appears to draw a lot of inspiration from more upmarket offerings; we’re looking at you, Land Rover.

This particular model has blacked-out pillars from front to rear — likely as a nod to its topless big brother — and sports cladding along the rockers and wheel arches, like most newer crossovers and SUVs. While we noted above that this particular example seems fairly kitted-out, the presence of this cladding could indicate that there’s room above it for a model with a paint-matched lower body.

We can also see that while the wheels appear to be production and the tires sport some impressively thick sidewalls, they do not appear to be the genuine article. These may simply be for beauty shots, and dust from the concrete floor may be disguising their tread pattern, but they’re clearly not the sort of knobby all-terrains you’d find on the likes of a Jeep Renegade Trailhawk, nor are they same ones seen on road-going Bronco Sport prototypes.

Ford is planning to show the Bronco Sport at the New York International Auto Show in April (assuming the show happens, in light of the coronavirus). Meanwhile, its big brother’s reveal is just around the corner.

Source: https://www.autoblog.com/2020/03/09/baby-bronco-leaked/