Jeep vs Bronco | Bye Bye Bronco | 3

0:09It's June 1995 in a sweltering Houston, Texas courtroom. A grieving Dallas couple watches dolefully as the jury files out to begin deliberations. They sued the Ford Motor Company after their daughter was killed when the Bronco 2 she was riding in blew one of its tires and rolled over. The family blames Ford for the vehicle's poor design. As the jury leaves, a Ford attorney furiously scribbles a note on a yellow legal pad. He rushes over to the family's lawyer. Hey, this jury deliberation could take days. Perhaps we can settle before they reach a verdict. They've written down our offer. The family's lawyer, Tab Turner, raises an eyebrow as he reads the note.

0:52He's a 36-year-old former college All-American football lineman from Arkansas. And he's kept the build and the tough demeanor of someone who flattens linebackers. You're telling me Ford wants to settle now? You had your chance before we even brought this case. Do you recall what the family was told in those settlement talks? Yeah, we told them Ford would pay$200 ,000. Turner glares at the Ford attorney. Right. You also told him, and I quote, Ford doesn't give a s*** if you take the settlement money or not. Ford has never lost a rollover case, so we're not going to lose this one. Remember? But I'm guessing you're not so sure now, huh?

1:31Turner reads the Ford offer, crumples it up, tosses the yellow paper on the ground, and points toward the grieving family. Your Bronco 2 killed their 21-year-old daughter. The tires on your car were faulty and the SUV rolled over because the center of gravity was too high. You're here with this flimsy offer because you know she's just one of dozens, maybe hundreds of others who've been hurt by this SUV, and you come back here with$500 ,000. Huh. You better bring me a better offer. The Ford attorney scurries away and heads into the hallway outside the courtroom. him.

2:09He finds a payphone and calls Ford's corporate counsel in Michigan. A few minutes later, the Ford attorney returns with another offer. Mr. Turner, Ford has authorized me to offer$2 million to settle. Just as Ford presents its final offer, the judge reconvenes the case. The jury has made its decision. Turner grins wryly and shoos the Ford attorney away. Sorry, you're too late. I'll take my chances with the jury. The jury finds Ford responsible for the young woman's death and awards the family$25 million. It's the first time Ford has lost a rollover case, but it won't be the last. Soon, lawsuits are piling up against the Bronco II and Ford's other SUVs, and the resulting negative publicity will force Ford's top brass to make a startling decision.

3:11When planning for your future, you want someone with a history of keeping their word year after year. For nearly 160 years, Pacific Life has been a trusted name in the industry. But that isn't just a number. It's experience that matters. It's 160 years of promises held. helping generations retire with confidence, protect their loved ones, and plan for whatever comes next. Whether you're looking for life insurance, employee benefits, or retirement income solutions, when your future is on the line, you want history on your side. And believe me, Pacific Life has been there, always there through changing times, always focused on your needs.

3:50Ready to secure your tomorrow? Ask a financial professional how Pacific Life can help you feel prepared for what's next. Pacific Life Insurance Company, Omaha, Nebraska, and in New York Pacific Life and Annuity, Phoenix, Arizona. Because with Pacific Life, you're not just planning for the future, you're partnering with trusted experience. Closing the books, getting your people paid, and bringing on new hires. Running a small or mid-sized business can be exciting and also a little chaotic. Workday Go makes simplifying your business, well, simple. Imagine all the important aspects of your company, HR, finance, and payroll, All on the AI platform.

4:32No more juggling multiple systems. No more worrying about growing too fast. Just the full power of Workday Go, helping small to mid-sized businesses like yours scale and run more smoothly. Think about what that means. Seamless onboarding for new team members. Real-time insights at your fingertips. And payroll that works perfectly every single time. so you can focus on the big picture and go after your big ambitions. And with Workday, you can activate quickly in as little as 30 to 60 business days. So simplify your business. Go for growth. Go with Workday Go.

5:14From Wondery, I'm David Brown, and this is Business Wars.

5:44In our last episode, Ford launched a new kind of car-truck hybrid called a sport utility vehicle and branded it the Bronco. In time, the Bronco dented sales of the Jeep's bare-bones military-style CJ5. That forced Jeep to come up with something new, a beefy Bronco buster it called the Cherokee. But as the 1990s come to an end, consumers are clamoring for bigger, easier-to-drive vehicles. Ford thinks the Bronco can't meet that demand. While at Jeep, the biggest problems are coming not from the marketplace, but from a culture clash within the company. This is Episode 3, Bye Bye Bronco.

6:32It's June 1996. At a Ford assembly plant in Wayne, Michigan, workers gather around a candy apple red Ford Bronco that was made here back in 1970. The vintage Bronco belongs to Jeff Trapp. He's a Michigander and self-professed Bronco fanatic. Trap and his Bronco are here to lead a small parade to mark the end of the line for the Bronco. Almost two years to the day that O.J. Simpson brought infamy to the Bronco brand during a low-speed police chase in Los Angeles, Ford has decided to pull the plug on the brand. The event feels like a wake. Trap mounts his Bronco and a Ford marketing executive approaches.

7:13You all set, Jeff? I am, but can I ask you something before we roll out? Yeah, shoot. You know that I run a business selling parts for old Broncos like mine, right? It's called the Bronco Graveyard? Yeah, sure, I know all about it. Well, business is so good, I'm building a 15 ,000-foot facility. That tells me people still want the Bronco. I meet people every day with a Bronco story. Their dad took them four-wheeling in one, grandpa took them fishing, uncle took them camping. They loved this brand. So, uh, why'd you kill it? Bronco had its day, and now it's time to give drivers something else. That's why we launched a new four-door SUV called the Expedition.

7:55It's exciting. Uh, I wouldn't call the Expedition exciting. Maybe you wouldn't, Jeff, but we think buyers will. The market's changed since your Bronco here was made back in 1970. Big new generation of kids out there today who are riding around with their baby boomer parents. Those parents don't want a two-door off-road SUV like the Bronco, where you have to push a latch and move a seat to get in the back. The four-door Expedition solves that problem. Trapp shakes his head and revs his engine. He's not buying the marketing pitch. Well then, why didn't you just make a four-door Bronco? Because sometimes you need a whole new brand to convey that you've changed.

8:34GM didn't do that. They discontinued the two-door K5 Blazer last year and replaced it with a four-door Chevy Tahoe. If we just put two more doors on the Bronco, some people wouldn't see it as a family vehicle and wouldn't fix the brand's negative image because of all those rollover lawsuits. Trapp shrugs his shoulders. He still disagrees, but he knows Ford has already moved on. Trapp rolls out, driving slowly down the assembly line. Behind him is the very last Bronco Ford plans to make. And behind that is the very first Ford Expedition. The Bronco is dead, and with it out of the way, the off-road market seems wide open for Jeep.

9:18But roadblocks will soon pop up that will slow Jeep's roll.

9:29It's August 1996 in Toledo, Ohio. President Bill Clinton watches as the two-millionth Jeep Cherokee rolls off the assembly line. Without competition from the Bronco or the Chevy Blazer, the Cherokee is one of the most profitable Jeeps ever. After watching Chrysler's rolling milestone, Clinton heads to a podium to tout his administration's role in opening overseas markets to automakers and to others. It is a fact that we have negotiated 200 new trade agreements to open new markets and give American workers a fair break. It is a fact that for the first time in history, we're also exporting, in addition to autos and auto parts to Japan, things like rice.

10:14In the wings of the event, Chrysler's CEO, Bob Eaton, wants to discuss a foreign business arrangement of his own. Eaton hides his mouth with his hand and leans toward Chrysler's president, Bob Lutz. Hey, Lutz, someone at Dime the Benz called me. He said they wanted to do a joint venture with us. Oh, yeah? Yeah. They wanted us to help them market some of their 18-wheeler trucks. Honestly, it didn't sound like something we should do, but I floated another idea. I told them that if they wanted to merge our companies, I'd be happy to talk about it. Lutz gives Eaton a suspicious sideways glance. The pair have the same first name and similar salt-and-pepper hair, and they have something else in common.

10:54They were both rivals to succeed Lee Iacocca when he retired from Chrysler in 1992. It was expected that Lutz would get the job. He's a 64-year-old former Marine who flies a fighter jet for fun on weekends and shared Iacocca's flamboyant style. But the job went to the 56-year-old mild-mannered Eaton. Lutz pats Eaton on the back and offers a diplomatic reply. Merging with Daimler would be a big deal, boss. Imagine the number of Jeeps we could sell in Europe with Daimler's help. But I'd be careful if I were you. and you need to protect what we built under Iacocca. Eaton decides not to make a move while things are going so well for Chrysler, and especially for Jeep.

11:37At year's end, the Jeep Grand Cherokee will win a Best in Class award from the automotive press. So will the Jeep Wrangler, which is the direct descendant of the World War II Willys Jeep. But in time, a deal with Mercedes will prove too tempting to pass up.

12:00It's December 1998 in Auburn Hills, Michigan. Daimler Bend CEO Juergen Schrampp looks out the floor-to-ceiling windows in his spacious office on the top floor of Chrysler's 15-story-tall modern glass headquarters. He takes a moment to absorb the view of Chrysler's 500 acres of office and factory space below. Then, as other company executives look on, he pulls a cigar from the jacket pocket of his silk suit. A month earlier, Daimler and Chrysler merged in a$36 billion deal. They called it a merger of equals. And now Schrempf and Chrysler's Bob Eaton are co-chairmen of the combined Daimler-Chrysler Corporation.

12:42But from the jump, Schrempf considered that a lie. To him, this was a stealth corporate takeover. Schrempf puts the cigar in his mouth and flicks a lighter. Eden, who is several inches shorter and four years older, waves both his hands in the air. Juergen, stop. You can't do that. We banned smoking at Chrysler after Lee Iacocca left. Well, then I hereby declare this floor to be an authorized smoking area. All eyes turn toward Eden, but he says nothing, and Schrempf smugly looks around and keeps puffing away. It's the first sign that the merger of equals may be doomed to go up in smoke.

13:29Late 1999 in Detroit. Inside a crowded steakhouse, a group of six Ford middle managers are meeting over lunch. They've been invited here by Mark Gruber, a 30-something Michigander who has spent his young career at Ford. Gruber's job is to help launch new cars and trucks, but he's too junior of an executive to push through a new car on his own. Even so, he and the others at the table have still been toying with the idea of bringing the Bronco back. Gruber gets down to business. Hey guys, if we're going to keep talking about a new Bronco, we ought to have some idea of what it would look like. That's why I invited a car designer to join us.

14:10Across the table from Gruber is Moray Callum, a beefy 41-year-old Scottish-born car designer. Gruber knows that Callum is itching to get involved with the Bronco. Callum's brother is the director of design at Jaguar. But at Ford, Callum has been tasked with working on a minor remake of the Ford Taurus. That's not much of a challenge for Callum, who loved car design so much that he dumped his career in architecture. So, Moray, what do you think about a new Bronco? Moray strokes his goatee and smiles. I think it's a hell of an idea. And if Ford ever brought it back, it should look like the utilitarian-styled original and not that beast of an SUV OJ was riding in.

14:53First time I laid eyes on the original Bronco, I fell in love with it. Yeah. Yeah, we've all had that same feeling, Moray. It seems we're not alone. There are a ton of internet message boards out there dedicated to the Bronco. Bronco driving clubs, too. I think we all agree there's demand out there. Sure there is, Mark, but the executives who killed the Bronco are still running the company. How are we supposed to convince them to bring it back? Gruber stabs mindlessly at the Caesar salad in front of him while he ponders Callum's question. Finally, he answers. Let's round up every Bronco enthusiast we can find at Ford and get him to help us build a business case for a new Bronco.

15:35Can't tell our bosses what we're up to or they'll shut us down. We'll just do the work on our own time, in secret, till we come up with something great. It'll be an underground movement. Bronco underground. Hell yeah, that's right. The group heads back to the office to begin their clandestine work, unsure of where the road will lead without an executive to back them. And at the same time, inside Daimler Chrysler, the wheels are coming off the so-called merger of equals.

16:19This means you could be earning daily cash on just about anything, like a slice of pizza from your local pizza place or a latte from the corner coffee shop. Apply for Apple Card in the Wallet app to see your credit limit offer in minutes. Subject to credit approval, Apple Card issued by Goldman Sachs Bank USA, Salt Lake City branch. Terms and more at AppleCard.com. As business owners and managers, you use software for your business every day. You use one piece of software to manage your customers, another to manage your employees, another to manage your finances, and the list goes on. You buy these pieces independently and hope they fit neatly together like a puzzle.

16:58And then you find out the hard way that they don't, and you end up with a mess at the heart of your business operations. Does any of this sound familiar? Well, fortunately, Zoho offers a solution to this chaos. It's called Zoho One. Zoho One is a suite of around 50 pre-integrated business applications that fit together beautifully. So instead of dealing with disparate software from multiple vendors with multiple contracts and price points, you deal with one vendor with all the pieces of the business software puzzle neatly put together offered at a very attractive price. Now if this sounds interesting to you, you've got to check out Zoho One at Zoho.one.

17:40That's Z-O-H-O dot O-N-E. With Zoho, you're not just licensing apps. You're licensing peace of mind.

18:05It's November 1999 in Auburn Hills, Michigan. Daimler Chrysler Chairman Jürgen Schrempf paces angrily around a desk inside his office. A team of executives watches nervously, waiting for the boss to speak. Finally, he does. I look like a fool. Last month I predicted that Daimler Chrysler would make a two billion euro profit this year. Schrempf grabs a stack of papers off the desk. Now look at these numbers. Chrysler is going to lose twenty million in the fourth quarter. I don't know if the company will be profitable at all now. Someone tell me what's going on. The executives look at each other, but no one speaks.

18:44Shrimp points his finger at the sales analyst. You! Tell me what's happening. Why aren't we selling more cars? The sales analyst stammers out a reply. Well, sir, we told you last year that sales might fall if we didn't offer enough rebates to American consumers. Without them, customers think our prices are too high. Shrimp tosses the papers back on his desk. At Daimler-Benz, we didn't sell Mercedes cars using coupons. Buying a Mercedes is not like buying laundry detergent at Kmart. There are no blue light specials. The sales analyst raises his hand and interjects. Sir, Jeep buyers expect incentives.

19:24It's the American way. Schrampp walks over to the sales analyst and leans down towards him. Well, it's not the German way. And from now on, that is the way things are going to be here. in the executive suite, on the sales floor, on the assembly line. This meeting is over. Go back to work. Schrampp has already overseen major changes at the merged company. His co-chairman, Bob Eaton, has announced his retirement, and Chrysler's chief operating officer, Bob Lutz, has resigned, albeit somewhat under pressure from the new bosses. And now, Schrampp has decided to fire the man who replaced the two of them.

20:04He's going to replace the head of Chrysler in America, not with an American, but with a fellow German from the old Daimler-Benz company. Schrempf figures that'll make it easier for him to manage the company in the German car-making style, which favors a strict hierarchy over collaboration. The merger of equals is over. Chrysler and its all-American Jeep brand is now fully in the control of executives from Stuttgart. Meanwhile, inside Ford, a worker insurgency is about to gain traction.

20:41It's summer of 2000. Ford designer Moray Callum, a Scottish member of the Bronco Underground, is at his desk in Ford's headquarters. He's sketching designs for a new front grill that'll go on the Ford Taurus. Mark Gruber, a Ford marketing specialist who, along with Callum, is a member of the secretive Bronco Underground, has dropped by unannounced. Hey, Moray, can I see the latest sketches for the Bronco? Sure, mate. Callum opens his desk door and pulls out a folder. On the front of the folder, Callum has written U-260. Hey, Moray, what's with this U-260? It's a codename for this project. The U stands for utility, the 2 for two-door, and the 60 comes from the codename Ford's using for that smaller Ranger pickup they're developing.

21:27Since we're thinking we can slap the body of our Bronco on the chassis of that small Ranger, I figured it was appropriate. I love it. Gruber looks intently at the latest sketches. He sees that Callum has designed a vehicle that looks a lot like the original 1966 Bronco, but with even sharper exterior edges. The interior mostly has rounded features, including the dashboard. This is great, Moray, but what are you going for exactly? It's called retrofuturism. Retro what? Retrofuturism. My boss, the design director at Ford, he's really into that stuff. The whole idea is to recapture that optimistic, forward-looking design language of the 50s and 60s.

22:10Back then, everyone thought we'd have flying cars by now, and they designed with that in mind. Well, it's a perfect fit for the Bronco. Rugged on the outside like it used to be, but looks like a spaceship on the inside. Callum surreptitiously looks around and grabs the drawings back from Gruber and stashes them in his desk. You better get out of here before people start asking questions. Okay, okay, I'm going. But Moray, aren't we ready to make a prototype? Why don't you send those sketches to the head of design and see what he says? Callum agrees. And weeks later, he's in the office of Jay Mays, Ford's 46-year-old design chief.

22:48Mays is already a legend in creating cool-looking cars. Before he came to Ford, Mays led the design for what became Volkswagen's new Beetle, a rounded, retro-futuristic bug. Mays quickly looks over Callum's sketches and hands them back to his junior designer. Moray, you've got something here. You've captured the emotional quality of the original brand. It's nostalgic. Thank you, Mr. Mase. So, uh, I'll give you the money to build a Bronco, but if you want it to go beyond a prototype, you'll need to get the CEO of himself to okay that. Good luck to you. Callum leaves the meeting giddy, and about a year later, the full-sized bright red U-260 model is making the rounds inside Ford.

23:35It's a hit, including with a CEO. But just as it looks like the Bronco might be back on the streets, the project comes to a crashing halt. In October 2001, Ford's CEO is ousted amid a scandal. And there's more. The number of deadly accidents involving Ford SUVs and Firestone tires has mounted. And Ford is spending billions on recalls and lawsuit settlements. It can no longer afford to bring back the Bronco. and the U260 is scuttled. But from its ashes, a new kind of Bronco aimed at a new generation is about to rise.

24:24It's January 2004 at the Detroit Auto Show. A hulking, polished aluminum vehicle drives onto a colorfully lit stage. It's Ford's new concept SUV and it's a Bronco. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Ford's Group Vice President of Design, Jay Mays. Thank you. Okay, here we go. Please feast your eyes on the all-new Ford Bronco concept. This tough little ute draws on the spirit of the original Bronco. It's an era of honest, authentic SUVs. Mays details some of the concept car's best features like its shiny aluminum skin. The vehicle was inspired by the Bronco Underground and the work of Moray Callum, who reports to Mays.

25:12But it's been created with Ford's official blessing under Mays' direct supervision. And Mays has crafted a Bronco that's futuristic, but that also nods to the past. It looks something like a scaled-down, shined-up Hummer. After the show ends, the automotive press buzzes around the new Bronco. But a year later, in a small break room at Ford, the underground movement's unofficial leader, Mark Gruber, delivers sobering news. Guys, I have asked around, and that silver Bronco is just never going to get made. It's a real shame, too, because the marketing teams found something surprising. Young people loved it, especially millennials.

25:53We're drawn to that retro concept and some of the details, especially the nitrous oxide tank Ford put in it. That stuff is right out of those Fast and Furious movies. Gruber's right. Two Fast and Furious movies have been released by the time the Silver Bronco appeared on stage in Detroit. And both feature cars getting supercharged by nitrous oxide tanks that help cars burn fuel faster. Yeah, but Mark, even if these millennials like this concept car, most are teenagers. They're still too young to buy a Bronco. That's true. But what we've learned here is that the Bronco does have an audience. One day, there'll be buyers, and they'll be waiting for us.

26:33So I don't care if everyone else at Ford doubts us. We can't give up. The Bronco Underground commits to charging forward. While the Bronco team looks for a way to win over Ford executives, Jeep continues to dominate the off-road market. But things are about to get very grim at Daimler Chrysler. And Jeep just might get sold off for parts.