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"Ford sees no place in future for small pickups, so the Ranger will be phased out."

15K views 111 replies 74 participants last post by  VS Ute 5Litre 
#1 ·
"Ford sees no place in future for small pickups, so the Ranger will be phased out."

Link: http://www.autonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100802/OEM04/308029997/1216

Article Quote:

The Ford brand also gets new technology, including the EcoBoost engine in large vehicles such as the Edge crossover and possibly the Expedition SUV, sources say. But Ford sees no place in the future for small pickups, so the Ranger will be phased out.


Another quote, from the same issue:


Ford is expected to pull the plug on the aging Ranger in 2011. It's unclear whether the company will replace the compact pickup with another product.

Executives have said Ford might import a version of the next-generation small pickup sold outside North America. If so, the U.S. model would be based on Ford's T6 global compact pickup platform, engineered by Ford of Australia.

But this is unlikely because of the 25 percent tax on imported pickups. That tax would mean boosting the price of the Ranger close to that of the F-series trucks -- a tough sell for pickup buyers.

Read more: http://www.autonews.com/article/20100802/OEM04/308029998/1254#ixzz0vS02Rign
 
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#39 ·
Re: "Ford sees no place in future for small pickups, so the Ranger will be phased out

I am having trouble believing this.

There has to be a maket for an intelligent small pickup truck in the United States.
The issue is cost to Manufacture in US VS "chicken tax" can ford afford to tool up a shop to build a car that will sell a few thousand units AND steal sales from the F truck or what cost would it be to import from Thailand where it will be built for world sales

price in other markets for comparison

in Oz a holden cruze CD costs 22,900
holden Colorado 4x2 single cab cab/chassis W alum flat deck costs $28,490
holden Commodore international costs $33,900
in SA a ford fiesta R 162,200
a Ranger single R 153,980
4X4 double cab diesel 2.5L R 295,630
 
#4 ·
Re: "Ford sees no place in future for small pickups, so the Ranger will be phased out

There's a market for small pickups. I don't see why they would abandon it. I know people who only buy smaller trucks. (One owns their second Ranger)

They could step up their game and get even more of the small pickup market too, if they wanted. If Ford abandons the small pickup market I hope GM doesn't.
 
#5 ·
Re: "Ford sees no place in future for small pickups, so the Ranger will be phased out

They want you to buy a new Explorer Sport Trac..... a Ford Ridgeline.
 
#6 · (Edited)
Re: "Ford sees no place in future for small pickups, so the Ranger will be phased out

Well, that makes sense considering the Ranger platform has been around since what 1982? Ford neglected it too long, and now it dies an undignified death.

It also makes sense for no small pickup market, if all you sell is full size pickups, you can make a better case to the government that they need to exist. I think the feds would love nothing more than to get rid of full size trucks.
 
#7 ·
Re: "Ford sees no place in future for small pickups, so the Ranger will be phased out

Accurate appraisal of the situation. The import of the Ranger isn't set in stone, but the T6 truck certainly is legal to sell here should they decide to.

There is a market for small pickups in the United States, but at what price do they make sense? How much would you pay for a new Ranger?
 
#8 ·
Re: "Ford sees no place in future for small pickups, so the Ranger will be phased out

Seems like a great opportunity for GM if they brought a new small pickup with a 4'cyl and priced it right and it wasn't too heavy. Many people still like the size of smaller trucks and the gas milage advantage they SHOULD have. GM gave Ford the pony car market for 6 years and the police/RWD large car market, this would be a way to get part of a market all to themselves (excluding imports) and if gas spikes again, they'd be in the cat bird seat!
 
#9 ·
Re: "Ford sees no place in future for small pickups, so the Ranger will be phased out

Here is the problem:
Consumers want a small pickup at a reasonable price, in comparison to the current full sized trucks
Automakers want to sell such a vehicle at $1000 under the price of the full sized offerings.

A new Ranger should be priced in line with the Feista/Focus. Any small pickup should be priced at the equivalent of the compact car offerings at said auto manufacturer.
 
#22 · (Edited)
Re: "Ford sees no place in future for small pickups, so the Ranger will be phased out

Here is the problem:
Consumers want a small pickup at a reasonable price, in comparison to the current full sized trucks
Automakers want to sell such a vehicle at $1000 under the price of the full sized offerings.

A new Ranger should be priced in line with the Feista/Focus. Any small pickup should be priced at the equivalent of the compact car offerings at said auto manufacturer.
Yeah that ^^^^ plus they want to remove $2000 worth of creature comforts to make up for that $1000 lower price. Additionally a small truck needs to get significantly better fuel mileage than its full-sized counterpart (+2 mpg is NOT significantly better).

In some cases, bigger is not better and will not justify higher prices. We see the pricing of smaller cars climbing to justify/cover better equipment/technology so don't "dumb down" truck content to give us smaller size without giving us something...mileage or comparatively lower pricing.
 
#14 ·
Re: "Ford sees no place in future for small pickups, so the Ranger will be phased out

Well, this is the same company that, along with GM, decided there is no market for a minivan.
No, they decided there wasn't a market for 6 manufacturers making minivans. And there was a large crossover market that was untapped. Big difference.

They also saw minivans as a declining market - and that's to be determined. Gen X/Y tend to prefer crossovers, all things being equal. The problem is, until Ford and especially GM filled that niche, it was a minivan or a much less functional Suburban/Expedition.

Now, you can get 90% of a minivan with 0% of the appearance. Men everywhere don't have to get neutered just because they have 3 kids. Women don't have to look the part of a glorified shuttle service. We can all drive a functional vehicle that doesn't look like someone took a sledgehammer to the front of an SUV.

_____________________________

The problem with this decision is it sounds like the D3 10 years ago - "we can't produce a profitable, competitive small car (insert truck)".
 
#12 ·
Re: "Ford sees no place in future for small pickups, so the Ranger will be phased out

Too bad. My Ranger was a right sized truck for what I needed to do. I saw one this morning and thought that it was a real shame that no one was really pursuing that market anymore.

I can see why they aren't though. Rangers aren't that much more inexpensive than an F-150. When I bought mine in 1998, there was a pretty substantial price difference between the two. Not so much anymore.

I really didn't enjoy living with mine all that much, but a four door extended cab Sport with the 4.0/5spd would pretty much correct the things I disliked about my '98.
 
#67 ·
Re: "Ford sees no place in future for small pickups, so the Ranger will be phased out

I really didn't enjoy living with mine all that much, but a four door extended cab Sport with the 4.0/5spd would pretty much correct the things I disliked about my '98.
HERE is the real reason the Ranger (and pretty much all the compacts) is dead as a doornail. In the distant past (when I was a kid in the 70s and early eighties) a pickup was a tradesman's vehicle. It wasn't dad's (or mom's) drop-kids-at-school car. Mom (if she drove) dropped the kids off in her station wagon, and dad drove to work in his bench-seat pickup. Extended and Crew-Cabs didn't really even exist, and THERE WAS NO NEED!

Fast forward to the year 2010, and the same vehicle that tows the boat, takes dad to work at the plant or the construction site, then picks up the kids and takes them to soccer practice or grabs the groceries. The demise of the Ranger and the original S-10/Sonoma can be directly tied to the evolution of what pickups needed to do. I would bet that when you start adding creature comforts and extending the cab of these "baby-pickups" you start to quickly get to a realm where they're losing capability (have to trade payload for that extended cab) or they're starting to cost 80-90% of the cost of a Full-sizer to manufacture. At that level of exchange, the little truck starts to lose really quickly.

I'm going to take my usual contrarian view here and say: "Let it die." For the tradesman who wants a small vehicle, the Transit Connect is his vehicle. For the soccer-dad/soccer-mom who wants something more "macho" than a minivan, there's any number of crossovers and SUVs that can tow stuff and still haul things back from Home Despot.
 
#18 · (Edited by Moderator)
As long as the spy shots of GM testing a new small truck shows a trcuk destined for our shores, I could care less about the death of teh ranger...bring it on! GM can dominate small truck like Chrysler dominates the van market!

<<<< I <3 mini-turcks!

They should put the money into giving the Ranger a major redesign instead of killing it.
Cant. The platform has been out since 81 and doesnt meet NHTSA crash standards that will be implimented on all 2012 vehicles.

See: Ford Ranger being forced out of small truck market in 2011, not deciding to abandon it.
 
#16 ·
Re: "Ford sees no place in future for small pickups, so the Ranger will be phased out

"Ford sees no place in the future for small pickups that have been left to rot on the vine eight years past when an appropriate redesign would have been due, so the Ranger will be phased out."
There, that makes the statement more understandable.

I really dislike the retreat strategy. Of course, there's a market for a properly executed small pick-ups for the U.S.. And I see no reason to abandon it to foreign-branded automakers.
 
#17 · (Edited)
Re: "Ford sees no place in future for small pickups, so the Ranger will be phased out

Back in the mid-nineties my friend leased his Ranger for $95 a month. An incredible deal for anyone, especially College students/recent grads. Ford sold or leased as many as they could make because:

1) You could get them as cheaply as a stripped economy car.
2) Ford had just given the Ranger a major (and apparently it's last) refresh.
3) The size was right.
4) You could get one with as much or as little content as you wanted.

It would be good to see Ford or GM design a new small pick-up like the current Ranger or old S-10.
 
#24 ·
Re: "Ford sees no place in future for small pickups, so the Ranger will be phased out

Back in the mid-nineties my friend leased his Ranger for $95 a month. An incredible deal for anyone, especially College students/recent grads. Ford sold or leased as many as they could make because:

1) You could get them as cheaply as a stripped economy car.
2) Ford had just given the Ranger a major (and apparently it's last) refresh.
3) The size was right.
4) You could get one with as much or as little content as you wanted.

It would be good to see Ford or GM design a new small pick-up like the current Ranger or old S-10.

They lost money on every one sold. They needed them for Truck CAFE to sell the Explorers, Expeditions, and F-150 that were flying out of showrooms. GM had similar leases on the S10/Sonoma.
 
#19 ·
Re: "Ford sees no place in future for small pickups, so the Ranger will be phased out

Let me make this clear. The Ranger is being redesigned, and there will be a new truck capable of being sold in the US available following the death of our version.

However, will Americans be willing to pay for it?
 
#72 ·
Re: "Ford sees no place in future for small pickups, so the Ranger will be phased out

Let me make this clear. The Ranger is being redesigned, and there will be a new truck capable of being sold in the US available following the death of our version.

However, will Americans be willing to pay for it?

Honestly, I have always like the Ford Ranger. Nice truck. Sure its dated, but, nice small truck. When I try build and price on one however, I see no benefit. I can get a 1/2 ton for the price of a loaded Ranger. Sure, that 1/2 ton might have a bit less stuff for that price, but it would be a better choice.

IF the Ranger was, at max price, around 17k-19k, and started down low, say 13k-14k and was well equipped right out of the box, got 25 hwy with 4x4, and 30 or so hey with 2wd, then yes, I would consider one.
 
#21 ·
Re: "Ford sees no place in future for small pickups, so the Ranger will be phased out

One thing that people seem to be missing is that the Ford Ranger is the only small pickup still on the market. Everyone else moved up to the mid sized range, if you wanted a small pickup truck then the Ford Ranger was your only choice.
 
#29 ·
Re: "Ford sees no place in future for small pickups, so the Ranger will be phased out

What if you could buy an F-150 that got 25mpg?
1985 Toyota Truck 2WD


Use Your Gas Prices &
Annual Miles

Switch Units:
Gallons/100 Miles
Liters/100 km

Estimated New EPA MPG
MPG ratings for this vehicle have been revised
Regular Gasoline
23 City
26 Combined
29 Hwy

Compare to Official
EPA Window
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MPG Estimates from Drivers Like You
User fuel economy estimates are not yet available for this vehicle.
Learn more about "Your MPG"

Fuel Economics
Cost to Drive 25 Miles $2.64
Fuel to Drive 25 Miles 0.96 gal
Annual Fuel Cost* $1588

Based on 45% highway, 55% city driving, 15000 annual miles and a fuel price of $ 2.75 per gallon . Use Your Gas Prices & Annual Miles

Energy Impact Score

Annual Petroleum Consumption
(1 barrel=42 gallons)
13.2 barrels/year

Carbon Footprint

Annual Tons of CO2 Emitted


Personalize Annual Miles 7.2

3.5 16.2


EPA Air Pollution Score

Air Pollution Score Not Available

Safety NA
Size Class Small Pickup Trucks
Engine Size (liters) 2.4
Cylinders 4
Transmission Manual 4-spd
Drive Rear-Wheel Drive
Gas Guzzler no
Turbocharger no
Supercharger no
Passenger Volume NA
Luggage Volume NA
Engine Characteristics NA
Trans Characteristics NA

How small would a modern pick up have to be to get Malibu 4 cylinder mileage today?
 
#27 ·
Re: "Ford sees no place in future for small pickups, so the Ranger will be phased out


Looks like i'll be picking one of these up and then doing a 2JZ-GTE swap on it. Because I want a small pickup with power.
Are you going Back to the Future???
 
#28 ·
Re: "Ford sees no place in future for small pickups, so the Ranger will be phased out

That's BS....
 
#35 ·
Re: "Ford sees no place in future for small pickups, so the Ranger will be phased out

Im not sure if i believe this.. but if it is true.. this leaves more room for GM!
 
#37 ·
Re: "Ford sees no place in future for small pickups, so the Ranger will be phased out

Sigh.......

Many / Most of these types of decisions die on the operating table of internal opportunity cost.

As they should.

Can a mistake be made on the table - oh heck yes.
 
#91 ·
Re: "Ford sees no place in future for small pickups, so the Ranger will be phased out

I hope GM stays in this segment, maybe they'll get a bit of a bump in market share.
GM could put the Holden Ute into the market and then build up the segment from that base.

Holden Ute is made in Australia with 3.6 L V6 and V8 manual and auto transmissions. Also the 3.6L is dual fuel capable.

Chevrolet's El Camino:D:D:D




Mike
 
#42 ·
Re: "Ford sees no place in future for small pickups, so the Ranger will be phased out

I bought a '91 Ford Ranger 4x4 new back in the day. I bought it because I liked the exterior styling (although it was dated). The apparent quality of the truck was (in my humble opinion) superior to that of the S-10. I can't comment on the ride of the 91 S-10s, but my Ranger was the most uncomfortable riding vehicle I ever owned and I traded it after about year for a 93 T-Bird (out of the frying pan and into the fire :rolleyes:). Good by and good riddance Ranger.

This is certainly an opporturnity for GM to build an innovative, durable and cost efficient small truck. :lmao:
 
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