[AutoGuide.com]

The small pickup truck market may be getting another new competitor from Detroit.

Ford is considering bringing a small pickup truck back to the market according to Doug Scott, Ford ‘s truck marketing manager. ”We’re looking at it,” Scott told USA Today. “We think we could sell a compact truck that’s more like the size of the old Ranger, that gets six or eight more miles per gallon (than a full-size truck), is $5,000 or $6,000 less, and that we could build in the U.S. to avoid the tariff on imported trucks,” he said.

This new Ford pickup wouldn’t be a direct competitor to the Toyota Tacoma or the newly introduced Chevy Colorado and GMC Canyon. Instead, it would be a true compact pickup truck which would use a unibody frame and be smaller than the current Ranger which is on sale in global markets.

For a small truck to work, it must be considerably smaller than a half-ton in Scott’s view, which is why the current Ford Ranger sold in other markets would not work in the U.S.

Update: We asked Ford Truck Communications Manager Mike Levine in an E-mail if Ford was considering a return to the small pickup truck market. He answered, “No. We are continuing to invest in and expand our F-Series lineup for the North American market and are confident that our new F-Series addresses the needs of the U.S. pickup buyer. Additionally, our Transit Connect lineup addresses the needs of buyers looking for utility in a compact size.”

For more on this story, Ford Weighing Return to Small Pickup Truck Market and much, much more please visit AutoGuide.com.

 

[megeebee]

OMG!!!

GM Should stop "weighing" and start BUILDING!

They needed this YESTERDAY!

GM is soooooo stupid !


.....Oh...........wait...............

 

[CJH]

No brainer.......as long as you keep it small and cheaper than the big boys.

 

[BlackGTP]

OMG!!!

GM Should stop "weighing" and start BUILDING!

They needed this YESTERDAY!

GM is soooooo stupid !


.....Oh...........wait...............

As I was reading the article my thoughts were exactly the same. GM is the market leader in the segment, yet GMI makes them sound like laggards because the new GM small trucks don't have Ford badges. They'd be awesome if they were Fords and evidence of Fords coutinuing segment domination. Yet because GM came out with the small trucks first there is an attitude that they'd be better if Ford had come out with a same small trucks (if that makes any sense).

 

[Butz]

GM has a midsize pickup not a small pickup. I wonder if Ford is truly coming up with a small pickup instead of a midsize.

 

[AMcA]

No brainer.......as long as you keep it small and cheaper than the big boys.

It's not a no-brainer at all. Big brainer. Remember, they'll invest a good billion dollars minimum to do a whole new truck, a whole new truck that sells for substantially less than an F-150, but is going to be very close to equally complex. It may not make economic sense. And then there's the fact that it might siphon off demand from the F-150.

Working through all of that is a major brainer.

 

[Ambalanche]

The Ranger was the #1 selling compact pickup while the F150 was still the #1 selling Full Sizer. All this hand wringing over cannibalization is folly in my view. GM is going to print money with the new Colorado and Canyon!

 

[CJH]

It's not a no-brainer at all. Big brainer. Remember, they'll invest a good billion dollars minimum to do a whole new truck, a whole new truck that sells for substantially less than an F-150, but is going to be very close to equally complex. It may not make economic sense. And then there's the fact that it might siphon off demand from the F-150.

Working through all of that is a major brainer.

Not really, from this:

http://www.leftlanenews.com/ford-eyeing-return-to-small-pickup-market.html

"We think we could sell a compact truck that's more like the size of the old Ranger," Ford marketing manager Doug Scott told USA Today.

Such an offering would likely fetch six to eight more mpg than full-size pickups, with a price tag $5,000-$6,000 cheaper. It is also expected to adopt a unibody structure and roll off US assembly lines.

They already realized it has to be the old size not to canibilize the F150 and it will most likely utilize an existing platform and engines already in the stable. Seems to me like they already have it pretty much figured out, IF they choose to do it.

Doug Scott knows a hell of a lot more about it than you or I do.

 

[DFC]

For what its worth, a Ford PR denial:
http://truckyeah.jalopnik.com/despite-flood-of-rumors-ford-says-no-small-pickups-no-1644300119

"No. We are continuing to invest in and expand our F-Series lineup for the North American market and are confident that our new F-Series addresses the needs of the U.S. pickup buyer. Additionally, our Transit Connect lineup addresses the needs of buyers looking for utility in a compact size."

 

[oldmember2]

All this smack coming from all this Ford guys is for nothing. Look up Pickuptruck.com so you Ford guys can see what Ford Motor Company is talking about and it is not a Ford Ranger type vehicle, it is smaller, it is like GM small front drive pickup from Mexico called Montana.:fall:

 

[CamaroCrazy]

I checked out the new Colorado at my local dealer earlier this week. Fantastic truck and just the right size for someone who doesn't want or need a full size. Once the new GM trucks take off, everyone else will be scrambling to re-enter this market or redesign their dinosaurs (Tacoma and Frontier). Just wait.

 

[KingElvis]

Pet Peeve "Unibody" is a Chrysler-ification of Unit body.

And if you have a unit body pickup, then you start getting into the GVW range of what CUVs can haul.

I'm puzzled by the suggestion that Ram and Ford will offer "Brazilian" fwd unit body pickups. I think they would get laughed and jeered at like 90lb weaklings.

At least when they are run through the focus group gauntlet, people keep rejecting 'outside the box' sized pickups. Even styling that strays from the brick-in-the-wind model we have now gets the thumbs down. That explains why the Silvy and Ford new trucks are so conventional and 'evolutionary.'

 

[sepi]

Total Recall Motors squandered over a billion on a lineup of old-tired-not-new-but-called-new 2014 Chevrolet and GMC Silverdodos. Then they had the nerve to create a bloated huge mid-sized truck that will only steal sales from its full-sized lineup and won't add a single unit of conquest sales.

Ford was wise - it paired down its F-150 on weight first - securing its lead in the full-sized segment -then it now decides to go "compact" - this is where the market will go and this will leave TRM without anything to sell against Ford. And Ford's new F-150 will be just as fuel efficient as the bloated Asian barges they are trying to sell at TRM.

 

[guionM]

1. It's great that Ford is rethinking getting back into the small pickup business since even when they killed the Ranger, not only was it the last surviving small truck, it was still selling at amazing levels considering Ford had abandoned all resemblance of keeping it up to date years before.

2. I think Ford's lost their frigging mind if they are going to deviate from the formula that made the Ranger the best and longest lived "small" pickup truck in the US by making it unibody and FWD based......really, that's pretty stupid.

Pet Peeve "Unibody" is a Chrysler-ification of Unit body.

And if you have a unit body pickup, then you start getting into the GVW range of what CUVs can haul.

I'm puzzled by the suggestion that Ram and Ford will offer "Brazilian" fwd unit body pickups. I think they would get laughed and jeered at like 90lb weaklings.

At least when they are run through the focus group gauntlet, people keep rejecting 'outside the box' sized pickups. Even styling that strays from the brick-in-the-wind model we have now gets the thumbs down. That explains why the Silvy and Ford new trucks are so conventional and 'evolutionary.'

Holden has been doing unibody trucks for years (the Ute) so that in itself isn't a big deal. But it's that Ford is straying so far from the pickup truck formula in this that it's baffling.

What Chrysler is coming up with is essentially a modern Subaru BRAT, and that's fine. It's a nice niche. But as someone who actually BOUGHT a Ford Ranger (it was actually my very first new vehicle purchase), unless Ford is doing a Ranchero, I don't have any confidence they will come close to what GM will do with it's Canyon/Colorado trucks.

 

[sepi]

Pet Peeve "Unibody" is a Chrysler-ification of Unit body.

And if you have a unit body pickup, then you start getting into the GVW range of what CUVs can haul.

I'm puzzled by the suggestion that Ram and Ford will offer "Brazilian" fwd unit body pickups. I think they would get laughed and jeered at like 90lb weaklings.

At least when they are run through the focus group gauntlet, people keep rejecting 'outside the box' sized pickups. Even styling that strays from the brick-in-the-wind model we have now gets the thumbs down. That explains why the Silvy and Ford new trucks are so conventional and 'evolutionary.'

Just like Ford is getting laughed at with the Transit Connect - offering small, fuel efficient unibody commercial applications which Total Recall Motors does not have; then Ford has the nerve to migrate over the huge Transits in so many body configurations that it makes the F-Series look model limited.

Yeah, Ford is going to get laughed at - and it will haul the cash to the bank smiling too.

 

[sonjaab]

I guess some posters haven't bought or shopped pickups in YEARS!

The last colorado/canyon pickups weren't much cheaper than a fullsizer.
Same went for a dakota or ranger either..................

Not to mention the new higher mpg cafe ratings spelled doom for the
American 3 mfrs. (except GM) bothering to produce any soon.

 

[rsbaker]

Update: We asked Ford Truck Communications Manager Mike Levine in an E-mail if Ford was considering a return to the small pickup truck market. He answered, “No. We are continuing to invest in and expand our F-Series lineup for the North American market and are confident that our new F-Series addresses the needs of the U.S. pickup buyer. Additionally, our Transit Connect lineup addresses the needs of buyers looking for utility in a compact size.”

I think this is the real answer for now unless GM sells Canyon and Colorado like crazy. If they do then Ford could probabaly easily bring their overseas Ranger back home.

Ford Ranger from Australia

 

[BlackGTP]

It's not a no-brainer at all. Big brainer. Remember, they'll invest a good billion dollars minimum to do a whole new truck, a whole new truck that sells for substantially less than an F-150, but is going to be very close to equally complex. It may not make economic sense. And then there's the fact that it might siphon off demand from the F-150.

Working through all of that is a major brainer.

any more so than having multiple car sizes? Large, midsize, etc.

 

[KingElvis]

1. It's great that Ford is rethinking getting back into the small pickup business since even when they killed the Ranger, not only was it the last surviving small truck, it was still selling at amazing levels considering Ford had abandoned all resemblance of keeping it up to date years before.

2. I think Ford's lost their frigging mind if they are going to deviate from the formula that made the Ranger the best and longest lived "small" pickup truck in the US by making it unibody and FWD based......really, that's pretty stupid.



Holden has been doing unibody trucks for years (the Ute) so that in itself isn't a big deal. But it's that Ford is straying so far from the pickup truck formula in this that it's baffling.

What Chrysler is coming up with is essentially a modern Subaru BRAT, and that's fine. It's a nice niche. But as someone who actually BOUGHT a Ford Ranger (it was actually my very first new vehicle purchase), unless Ford is doing a Ranchero, I don't have any confidence they will come close to what GM will do with it's Canyon/Colorado trucks.

The other thing is that with the reformed CAFE, you don't get the big boost in 'average' that they used to get because gas mileage is pegged to footprint. CAFE is literally not an 'average' anymore.

Some makers seem to be embracing the change by eliminating short wheelbase vehicles instead of going in for big engine improvements like Ford and GM.

For example, Toyota has chosen to eliminate the 4.7 V8 for a standard 5.7 V8 and just eliminate the shortest 6.5ft reg cab version of the Tundra. They also eliminated their reg cab, short wheelbase Tacoma.

In any case, there is therefore no need to make 'ringer' compact pickups that you sell at cost just to allow you to sell the high profit big pickups.

 

[richmond2000]

I guess some posters haven't bought or shopped pickups in YEARS!

The last colorado/canyon pickups weren't much cheaper than a fullsizer.
Same went for a dakota or ranger either..................

Not to mention the new higher mpg cafe ratings spelled doom for the
American 3 mfrs. (except GM) bothering to produce any soon.

I have a friend that ran out and bought a NEW ranger before stock ran out a few yeas ago and there WAS ZERO discount on it and it WAS substantially cheaper then a similar F150 in the higher OPTION level range (what does a FX4 F150 4x4 fetch - almost 40K and the Ranger was almost 30K)

a f150 XLT ext cab 4x4 NO options/upgrades NO FX4 V6 is 36,400+ shipping - discounts (XLT is BASE level with power windows)
a tacoma 4X4 4.0L 5 SPEED ext cab with TRD sport value is 30,800 including shipping of 885

4K to 6K is a fare amount*of savings in a MID level 4X4