Ford Bronco customers spend big on accessories

When customers buy a Bronco from Steve Olliges' Team Ford dealership in Las Vegas, they normally spend an additional $4,000 to $5,000 outfitting their off-roaders with light kits, tube doors and other accessories.

Olliges, who has sold about 700 Broncos since the SUV went on sale a little more than a year ago, said he can't recall another Ford vehicle that has given dealers such an opportunity to increase their profits — and he plans to take full advantage. In a few months, he'll open a 9,000-square-foot accessory shop called the Bronco Barn, which sits about a mile from his showroom and cost roughly $10 million to build.

"I definitely have Bronco fever," Olliges, who also plans to build a standalone Bronco showroom next to the barn, told Automotive News. "I feel I could make a living just being a Bronco dealership; it's that successful."

Other Ford dealers say their experience has been similarly lucrative. The Bronco has been on sale just over a year, and the automaker says its retailers have sold more than 1 million factory-backed accessories for it and the Bronco Sport.

Executives say the Bronco is now Ford's most-accessorized product, with customers spending an average of $1,700 on some 240 available parts. Buyers spend about $800 on average accessorizing the Bronco Sport crossover, or about the same amount that the F-150 pickup generates.

The most popular accessories, Ford says, have been modular front bumpers, winches and off-road lights.

"It's core to the success of Bronco," Mark Grueber, Ford's U.S. consumer marketing manager, said in an interview. "For dealers it's a great opportunity not only from a profit standpoint but also long-term engagement with customers. It's a great proof point of what Ford can do and how big this opportunity is going forward." Ford's success on Bronco parts sales stemmed from troubles on another product.

The automaker attempted to boost its accessory sale credibility when it launched the Ranger midsize pickup in the U.S. in 2018, but dealers complained at the time about a slow distribution process and lack of inventory. Officials scrambled to fix the issues.

"We completely changed our distribution network," said Eric Cin, Ford's global director of vehicle personalization, accessories and licensing. "We fired half of the companies that were distributing our products and rehired new companies to teach our dealers how to get into the business and put more content in inventory."

The company started having in-depth discussions on its plan for Bronco accessories years ahead of the SUV's launch, developing an entire cycle plan for the add-ons much the same way it does for a vehicle.

"There was not a week that went by for several years that we weren't talking about accessories," Cin said.

The planning touched nearly every side of the business. Designers and engineers built the Bronco with customization in mind. Website developers revamped Ford's build-and-price site to allow buyers to visualize what the parts would look like on their vehicle. Ford's safety office and legal teams cut red tape so the company could offer certain parts that had previously been left to aftermarket companies.

Ford Credit increased the amount of money customers could finance on accessories. The lender also started to residualize accessories so customers could integrate them into lease payments, which helped sales in lease-heavy markets such as Michigan and New York.

"We went in with a mindset early on that we wanted customers to be able to accessorize and personalize their vehicles from Day 1 and integrate it into the payment of the vehicle," Cin said, adding that financing accessories on leased vehicles was unique and "opened up a whole new set of doors for customers."

Even though the Bronco's launch was delayed by the coronavirus pandemic, Cin says the early lockdowns and subsequent rise of remote work helped Ford reach its Bronco accessory milestone so quickly.

"Our Ford Performance parts business just boomed during COVID," he said. "Our customers weren't going to the movies. They were staying home working on their cars."

It's likely Ford will continue to sell Bronco accessories at a high clip as the vehicle's product cycle continues. Variants such as the Raptor and Everglades offer new possibilities.

The automaker plans to add 100 accessories in 2023, including a slide-out tailgate, door storage bags and safari bar kit.

"The portfolio is going to continue to grow," Cin said. "We can never have enough."