DETROIT — Off-roading is a strategic bet for Ford Motor Co. to boost sales and attract younger buyers, even as forecasts predict vehicle affordability concerns could shrink the U.S. market this year.

Off-road performance trims like Raptor and Tremor account for more than 20% of Ford's U.S. mix, up from 7% pre-pandemic. The industry-wide $7 billion off-road business in 2024 is expected to nearly double by 2033. Regulatory fuel economy and carbon emissions rollbacks pave the way for a greater share of sales of these sorts of trims, allowing the Dearborn automaker to produce more models in-line with the demand that's there, executives said, which means heftier profits that sit in contrast to other derivatives.

"The most profitable retail vehicles that we sell at Ford globally are our off-road vehicles," CEO Jim Farley told The Detroit News in an interview from Saudi Arabia during a trip for the Dakar Rally, where eight trucks were taking on the world's toughest off-road endurance race. "It's the Bronco, and it's the Raptor, and it's the Tremor, and those three products, or derivatives of products, are our most profitable retail vehicles in the company.

"That is not the case for GTD or Mustang," he continued. "The off-road business is very unusual, because it's extremely profitable, and the customers love the product, and it's an enthusiast product. That is not the case with on-road."

But forecasters are expecting vehicle sales to slide in 2026. As a record number of buyers commit to a $1,000 per month or more new-vehicle loan payment and following the expiration of the federal plug-in vehicle tax credit, U.S. sales could decline by roughly 2½% to around 15.8 million vehicles. A narrative emerges where more affluent buyers keep purchasing, and consumers more cash-strapped pullback.

"Affordability continues to be an issue, and it does mean that sometimes people can’t get into the segment or vehicle they want, so they may have to look at used or other things," said Stephanie Brinley, associate director of research and analysis at S&P Global Mobility's AutoIntelligence platform. "The people who can are buying. You need to have the desirable product."

Ford's Detroit Auto Show stage includes a number of off-roaders as well as the Bronco Built Wild Ride Experience track on which customers can take a ride tackling Bronco Mountain and two new obstacles. Expedition Tremor and the new Explorer Tremor will be on site. The display also highlights Ford's partnership to map the 5,900-mile TransAmerica Trail on Google Maps Street View.

Many carmakers have added rugged features to their SUVs and pickups as more people enjoy getting off-grid, or at least look like they do. The trims carry names like Sasquatch, TrailSport, X-Pro and Wilderness. In a sign of the trend's surging popularity, Stellantis NV even turned a Chrysler Pacifica minivan into an overlanding machine of sorts. The concept vehicle, called the Grizzly Peak, will be on display at the Detroit Auto Show.

There also will be a section called the Michigan Overland Adventure, featuring vehicles from Ford, Chevrolet, GMC, Jeep, Ram, Toyota, Ineos, Subaru and AEV as well as the gear that can be attached to the rigs for all sorts of applications.

The overlanding addition "came from us going to a couple of (other auto) shows and seeing, 'Wow, there is kind of a passion for this," said Sam Klemet, the Detroit Auto Show's executive director. "And with the tie-in to Michigan's culture Up North, it made a lot of sense."

When consumers realized how flexible and functional SUVs are and that they're cooler than a station wagon or minivan, they no longer carried a special image, said Karl Brauer, executive analyst at auto search engine iSeeCars.com.

"Now we have to step up the adventure message than just having a boxy, elevated, all-wheel-drive vehicle," he said. "Every company has a bunch of them."

There's emotion behind these enthusiast vehicles, whether it's making memories with the family on an overlanding exhibition or having a physical manifestation of an adventurous personality. Ford is positioning itself to attract buyers who want that at both ends of the spectrum.

"We need to create more enthusiast off-road derivatives of our affordable vehicles," Farley said, noting the recently launched Maverick Tremor truck is one of its most popular versions: "It's not cheap, but it's a heck of a lot cheaper than a Raptor, and it's very capable off-road."

Even still, Raptor had a record year last year. The Maverick Tremor starts at $40,645. There isn't a Raptor version of the Maverick, though the larger Ranger pickup's Raptor starts at $56,070.

Meanwhile, the Bronco Raptor starts at $79,995. Combined, the Bronco and Bronco Sport outsell the Jeep Wrangler, hitting a record of more than 280,000 vehicles last year, up 20%, boosted by a more than doubling of entry-model trims. Alone, Bronco's 34% increase in sales brought it to more than 146,000 deliveries compared to Wrangler's 11% increase to more than 167,000.

Ford also is pushing the Bronco Sport following the end of production in December of the Escape crossover to retool Louisville Assembly Plant for the company's next-generation electric vehicle platform. People who give off-road vehicles a try can be surprised by the ride, Farley said.

"What's weird about off-road is the better the race truck or vehicle on the off-road side, the more soft the suspension," he said. "People get this imagery of the product as being big and tough, but actually, when you drive it, it drives like a Lincoln or Cadillac of the 1960s. It drives like a boat, and it's super compliant."

Although a rugged exterior does appeal to some buyers, Farley added that Ford at the same time isn't willing to sacrifice capability for a product that's off-road in name only for the sake of affordability. Competitors, he said, have made mistakes in selling an image without function.

"We believe there's an invisible line of capability that we don't want to go below with the off-road space," he said. "There is a certain amount of cost that comes with a credible off-road product."

Electrification also has yet to win that credibility in consumers' minds, but it's increasingly being put to the test. The forthcoming all-electric Jeep Recon advertises features for extensive time in the outback, and Ford recently launched an extended-range electric version of the Bronco in China that'll be exported internationally.

Farley declined to comment if or when a similar product could show up in North America, though Ford has said nearly every vehicle it sells will have a hybrid or multi-energy powertrain choice by the end of the decade. He pointed to how an alternative powertrain could benefit customers like a family from Allen Park he met during a weeklong Bronco road trip to the southwest United States in Moab, Utah. They off-road as a means to camp in the middle of nowhere, bringing aftermarket energy storage for water filtration, lighting, heating, refrigerating their food and other applications.

Ford has highlighted Pro Power Onboard on its electrified trucks, allowing customers to plug in devices and equipment to run off the vehicle's battery. That capability could translate well for overlanding and first responder missions, Farley said.

"We see them (hybrids and EREVs) as something that actually offers more capability for off-roading, because the torque vectoring and a supplemental electric motor like in a hybrid is actually a really great solution for off-roading," he said. "But really what our customers are asking us is they want more supplemental power. I don't think our competitors have been thinking about off-road that way."

He recounted meeting a search and rescue sheriff in Moab whose vehicle had so many modifications to assist in saving lives in the Heart of the Canyonlands, it looked nothing like the retail SUV, Farley said.

"There's a huge opportunity beyond what we offer today for the true off-road enthusiast customer," he said. "He's a super user, and we want to make sure that Bronco works for him, not just for the kids in the parking lot in Birmingham."

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Staff Writer Luke Ramseth contributed.

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