Ford Announces New Off-Roadeo Location in Tennessee, Expands Successful Program

by Carl Malek | June 20, 2024

Ford announces new Off-Roadeo location in Tennessee. Fifth location expands the reach of an already successful owner experience program and allows more owners to learn how to get the most out of their Ford Bronco.

Ford’s newest Off-Roadeo location builds on the program’s success and aims to teach more drivers to get the most out of their Bronco.

The Ford Bronco has proven to be a runaway hit for the company. While it had a rocky start due to several quality issues and delays, the SUV and its smaller counterpart the Bronco Sport have already exceeded the company’s expectations and the duo have also proven to be formidable rivals to Jeep and its lineup of off-road vehicles out on the trails, dunes, and mud pits of America.

One of the key pillars of the Bronco’s success was Ford’s commitment to providing a unique ownership experience for buyers that would make it stand out from its peers. One of the ways it has done this is through its Off-Roadeo program where new Bronco owners learn how to get the most out of their new purchase by tackling challenging terrain in several locations throughout the U.S. This program has proven to be very popular and it prompted Ford to open a fifth location in the heart of Tennessee.

Off-Roadeo ditches textbooks for trail-ready fun

In addition to offering 1,000 acres of challenging mountainous terrain, the new Tennessee location also plays into strategy with the company saying its within 500 miles of 80% of Bronco and Bronco Sport owners.

The Off-Roadeo program was designed to follow one core formula and that’s to help owners learn how to get the most out of their Bronco with the program having students navigate various types of challenging terrain while receiving instruction from trained instructors. The course even shows them the optimal way to drive their Bronco to help ensure that they have the best ownership experience possible.

The newest Off-Roadeo location is just south of Knoxville and is nestled right in the heart of the Smoky Mountains. The choice of the location was no accident either with Ford saying the new facility offers over 1,000 acres of challenging mountainous terrain for students to learn on with the company using the natural landscape to help construct obstacles for owners to experience. Bronco Off-Roadeo manager Kelsey Gerken said that the choice of location was strategic with the Tennessee location being within 500 miles of where 80% of Bronco and Bronco Sport owners live. This distance helps ease the burden of travel for some owners who might not be able to go to the four existing locations and it also helps Ford get the maximum amount of impact out of the program. Gerken says that the Off-Roadeo has also proven to be an excellent opportunity to hear back from owners with 9/10 owners saying that the Off-Roadeo exceeded their expectations.

Latest location boosts Ford’s efforts to build brand loyalty

Ford will also focus on applying the Off-Roadeo’s basic formula to other models including the recently announced Mustang Experience Center.

This latest Off-Roadeo location also serves as a recent example of Ford’s attempts to build customer loyalty for the Bronco with this loyalty being a key ingredient that is needed to help ensure the Bronco’s sales success. This is especially important when it comes time for some of these buyers to replace their Bronco with Ford wanting them to stay loyal and buy another Bronco model versus going into a rival vehicle like the Jeep Wrangler or even the Toyota 4Runner with that model recently being heavily revamped after a long period of stagnation.

The Bronco’s customer-focused programs have also encouraged the company to use the basic formula for some of its other models too with Ranger Raptor owners having access to the “Ranger Assault School” and Ford opening a Mustang Experience Center in the Charlotte Motor Speedway to give owners of the pony car a similar experience.

With the company preparing to enter a key period both in electrification as well as potentially producing more hybrid vehicles, customer loyalty will play a growing role in ensuring Ford’s long-term plans come together. As for the Tennessee experience, Ford has opened registration for the program with interested owners being able to pick dates for a full-day experience starting on October 4th. Half-day experiences will be available earlier with these opportunities starting in July.