After the Ford Bronco was unveiled, there was loads of talk about the SUV's off-road abilities, with many comparing the retro Bronco to the similarly old-school Wrangler. Jeep obviously thinks that it has the better product and its president, Jim Morrison, has poked fun at the Bronco's quality issues. This sort of thing is not uncommon, but it seems that the rivalry is heating up slightly, with Muscle Cars & Trucks reporting that Morrison has now taken another jab at Ford, this time claiming that the Blue Oval's newest product won't be able to keep up on the off-road trails.

"I actually feel sorry for (Ford Explorer Timberline) customers that get tricked," said Morrison. "You can paint a tow hook red. It doesn't mean that behind the tow hook it would even hold up in the right moment that it needs to." He went a little further, implying that Ford's off-road vehicles were little more than an appearance package: "We design all of those Trail Rated elements from the ground up… it's not just a marketing term, it's capability that's bred in," added Morrison. "You don't just put stickers and paint on things. We build it in with incredible capability."

The comments came while Jeep was promoting the all-new Grand Cherokee, a vehicle that was just revealed last month, a few short days after the covers came off the 2022 Ford Expedition. The Expedition is available in an off-road-focused Timberline variant, but Jeep certainly has the richer off-roading heritage and feels that it remains the authority on building SUVs capable of tackling the world's toughest trails. However, as our recent comparison shows, the Grand Cherokee is more expensive, so for those who don't need to go anywhere anytime, there's nothing wrong with going for the Ford Expedition. Still, we'd like to hear Ford's take on the rivalry, or better still, have each manufacturer challenge each other in a series of off-roading tests.