Jeep Wrangler outselling Ford Bronco so far in 2023, but it's close

There was little question as to what vehicle Ford was targeting when it brought back the beloved Bronco. An open-top, two- or four-door, body-on-frame SUV with rugged good looks and legitimate off-road chops? Yeah, we've seen that somewhere else before. And so we watch as the Ford vs. Jeep battles rage on pavement, off the beaten path and, perhaps most important of all, on sales floors all across these United States.

Who's winning is a matter of how you choose to read the numbers. In total, Jeep sold 37,971 Wranglers over the course of the first three months of 2023. Ford sold 32,430 Broncos over the same period (and another 29,871 Bronco Sport crossovers, though those obviously compete with different Jeeps). So, by sheer volume alone, the Wrangler outsold the Bronco. But that's hardly the full picture.

Those 32,430 Bronco sales represent a 37.6% increase over the same period in 2022. In contrast, Jeep's nearly 38,000 Wrangler sales equals a 17% decline over the same period a year ago. We're sure there are plenty of buyers who are also cross-shopping the Jeep Gladiator with the Wrangler and Bronco, so let's add those figures up. Jeep sold 13,575 Gladiators in the first quarter of 2023 — putting combined Wrangler and Gladiator sales at 51,546 units — which was also down, in this case by 24%. We also know that Ford is still working to fulfill a large number of Bronco backorders, meaning Bronco sales could be capped more by Ford's ability to build them fast enough than by customer demand.