[igor]

The Ranger is Dead – Long Live the Ranger
The Ford Ranger will take a short holiday

By Igor Holas | 04.17.2008 | www.autosavant.net

Much has been written about the stupidity of letting the venerable Ranger wither on the vine and lose its sales crown to Toyota’s Tacoma. Many writers, editors, and bloggers took it upon themselves to come up with new and innovative ways to call Ford shortsighted and use the Ranger’s demise as a case in point that Ford is in the fast lane to bankruptcy. However, behind the scenes, Ford is readying a duo of new trucks to be released in the wake of the Ranger’s demise, and is also planning an ultimate return of the Ranger to the US market.

Internal sources have recently confirmed that the Ranger will be discontinued after the St. Paul assembly plant is shut down next year. We also had it confirmed that, at least for several months, Ford will not be producing any truck smaller than F-150 in North America, and will be just selling down inventory of already-built Rangers. However, Ford is not to be absent for long in the mid-size segment.

MUCH MORE HERE

Igor

 

[chickenkicker]

It's a shame that they have let the Ranger slowly die. We have owned 3 of them, beat the living crap out of them, put 3-4x the rated load weights in them routinely, and they have never let us down. Sure they were cheap and outdated but they were durable as hell.

I don't like the fact that the long off replacement will be larger, the Rangers appeal for us was its size. I like trucks but wouldn't own something as large as an F150 or even as large as a Tacoma. I always liked the Ranger and S10 sized trucks personally.

 

[TheGeneral]

How many people are going to buy F150's when it costs $100.00 to fill the tank when they could get by with something smaller.

 

[1931Chevy]

if rangers sales keep going up maybe Ford management could give some extra time to St. Paul because I dont think that people will jump to a F150 or even F100 with gas prices going up, and IMO Fords F100 could had been the Sport Track, if that truck was made as a regular cab, double cab and take some things out of it to make it more cheaper it would be selling much better

 

[igor]

It's a shame that they have let the Ranger slowly die. We have owned 3 of them, beat the living crap out of them, put 3-4x the rated load weights in them routinely, and they have never let us down. Sure they were cheap and outdated but they were durable as hell.

I don't like the fact that the long off replacement will be larger, the Rangers appeal for us was its size. I like trucks but wouldn't own something as large as an F150 or even as large as a Tacoma. I always liked the Ranger and S10 sized trucks personally.

I am with you here - actually we are about to buy a new Ranger this summer - it is simply the perfect size.

However, the competition's extra size has given them the edge in many many .. ehm dimensions and Ford is going to answer it. I like the size they are aiming for - the Taco size - it is still a relatively small truck - especially since the 1/2 tons have grown to mammoth-like proportions.

And we will be without a Ranger for only 2 years when the new small Ranger will be released ... I am very much looking forward to that truck - it might become my daily driver if it delivers on the promise.

Igor

 

[MN12Fan]

I would say this article shows some forward thinking on Ford's part. The emphasis of Igor's article is trucks other than the F-150; specifically, smaller than the F-150, which I think is direct acknowledgement of fuel efficiency standards. There are people who need a truck as big as the F-150 (or bigger with the Super Duty), but there are a whole bunch of people who flat out don't. They think they need one because they bought one, but they just use the trucks for commuting and have the gall to complain about gas prices. Smaller trucks can form the basis of a compromise: utility and efficiency. It's not a new idea, but it's significant that a truck manufacturer as big as Ford is finally putting something together on it. I'm happy that there's a plan to revive a current-Ranger-sized Ranger in particular. My dad has one that I've driven numerous times and it's a good, solid truck. I can imagine a future one with an EcoBoost 4-cylinder under the hood; as much power and torque as the current 4.0L V6 and as good fuel efficiency as the current I4.

 

[HoosierRon]

I personally think all of the current half tons have gotten ridiculously big. If the F100 is the size of a 1998 F150, I think it will be a hit. GM had better start planning, because you know Toyota is.

 

[ausrutherford]

What about they split up the Super Duty just like the Ranger is going to be. Have one be the F-250 and 350, then the other be the F-450 and 550 so there is more differation across the line. First the Ranger, then F-100, F-150, then Super Duty(F-250 and 350), then Mega Duty (F-450 and 550). Remember when Ford split the F-150 and Super Duty in 98, it was the biggest thing that have happened to trucks since extended cabs.

 

[genjy]

It's a shame that they have let the Ranger slowly die. We have owned 3 of them, beat the living crap out of them, put 3-4x the rated load weights in them routinely, and they have never let us down. Sure they were cheap and outdated but they were durable as hell.

I am thinking about buying an used RWD 2.3L automatic Ranger Supercab for my dad.

How's the gas milage on the RWD 2.3L auto?

 

[BORG]

The idea is compelling, Ford positioning its F-SERIES vehicles to adapt to a market which is likely to change considerably as fuel prices rise. But it's enormously difficult to make a fuel efficient truck as capable as the F-150 but keep the weight and price down.

My Dad is a loyal Ranger owner but is about to lose it for a more fuel efficient option so I would say economy economy economy is the most important thing to consider with any future truck. I'm certain he would rather have the smaller truck proposed here than a Ford Escape or Focus.

 

[MN12Fan]

I am thinking about buying an used RWD 2.3L automatic Ranger Supercab for my dad.

How's the gas milage on the RWD 2.3L auto?

The 2.3L I4 Ranger with the 5-speed auto gets 19MPG city and 24MPG highway under the new EPA ratings. With a manual it's rated 21MPG city and 26MPG highway. Under the pre-2008 ratings, the Ranger was rated 21MPG city and 26MPG highway with the automatic and 24MPG city and 29MPG highway with the manual.

 

[newdude]

so, there will be a replacement and a wrangler fighter i.e. bronco?

 

[t-rex]

Ford'll muck it up. Mark my words.

 

[escapen]

Ranger, F-100, and F-150-450 by 2012!? I think Ford may have too many trucks under its portfolio, anything will be better than the Colorado/ Canyon but i think Ford needs to research the market and decide if we really need 3 trucks. Im excited that the bronco is making a return to take on Wrangler and FJ Bruiser

 

[doh]

That is truely To bad!

We curently sit @ F#38 (total F Series150-550)

R#21 (total Rangers for the year)

We do really well with Rangers, price wise and Finance wise.

 

[chakis24]

I don't like the fact that the long off replacement will be larger, the Rangers appeal for us was its size. I like trucks but wouldn't own something as large as an F150 or even as large as a Tacoma. I always liked the Ranger and S10 sized trucks personally.

the new ranger is gonna be possibly smaller than the current ranger. says so in the article. good thinking on fords part. the f-100 is whats gonna be the midsizer.

now i see how the explorer is gonna become what it is gonna be. the bronco will be the perfect compliment to the new explorer.

 

[plane]

I needed to replace a V-6 longbed Ranger in 2005, for occasional hauling and weekend work.

It was down to the Ranger or the Colorado.
I just could not bring myself to pull the trigger on the Ranger; as much as I liked it, it basically hadn't changed much in almost 30 years.
The Colorado required no maintenance other than oil changes before 100K miles, it had an all-aluminum VVT engine, nearly the same mpg as the 2.3 ranger, but more power, AC standard and it wasn't riding on a 30 year old design.

The age of the Ranger lost Ford a sale, plain and simple.

So yeah, kudos to Ford if they can pull this one off, with a mid-size 100 and a true compact Ranger. Hopefully Ford can build them both in North America.

 

[kool_zx3]

As a Ranger owner myself, it sucks to see it will be discontinued even if for a short time. The ranger was probably the best small truck ever, never seen a truck as well built as a ranger, mine included....

They far and i mean far outsell the Gm twins here, GM wants 33,000 for a near base model canyon around here, Ford wants 27,000 for a loaded FX4... I'll take the ranger thank you very much.

 

[ray101988]

It's a shame that they have let the Ranger slowly die. We have owned 3 of them, beat the living crap out of them, put 3-4x the rated load weights in them routinely, and they have never let us down. Sure they were cheap and outdated but they were durable as hell.

I don't like the fact that the long off replacement will be larger, the Rangers appeal for us was its size. I like trucks but wouldn't own something as large as an F150 or even as large as a Tacoma. I always liked the Ranger and S10 sized trucks personally.

If you read the article the Ranger which will be based off of the T6 being developed in Austrailia will be around the same size as the current Ranger. The vehicle your talking about is going to be called the F100. This will obviously take a spot between the F150 and the Ranger. It'll be around the size of the 97-03 F150 according to this article.

 

[ray101988]

if rangers sales keep going up maybe Ford management could give some extra time to St. Paul because I dont think that people will jump to a F150 or even F100 with gas prices going up, and IMO Fords F100 could had been the Sport Track, if that truck was made as a regular cab, double cab and take some things out of it to make it more cheaper it would be selling much better

A new Ranger the size of the current one will be out in 2012 after the F100 and Bronco debut. So there will be no need to worry about people jumping up to the F100 if they want something Ranger sized other than for the less than two years between their releases.