New Compact Ford Pickup to Sell for Sub-$20K
Ford to patch hole in its lineup with entry-level Ranger lookalike, but filling the void left by its affordable sedans is a big ask.
If high sticker prices are keeping you from your next Ford truck, there’s some good news in your future. According to a report from Automotive News which comes to us via Jalopnik and Road & Track, the company reportedly has a new compact pickup on the way — and it’s slated for a sub-$20,000 price tag when it ships late next year.
If true, that’s good news both for Ford and its customers. Thanks to its newfound focus on SUVs and trucks, the company will soon have only one affordable option remaining. Once the Fiesta and Fusion exit stage left, Ford will have only one vehicle available priced at under $24k, in the form of the subcompact EcoSport crossover.
Automotive News’ report predicts the debut of new compact pickup in late 2021, citing anonymous sources who attended a dealer conference last month in Tucson, Arizona. The new truck, currently codenamed P758, is said to look similar to the previous-generation Ranger in side profile.
The expected sub-$20k price tag for Ford’s new truck puts it at least $4,500+ below current pricing for the company’s just-launched 2020 Ranger, which was recently named International Pickup of the Year and is the entry-level point in the Ford truck lineup as of this writing. It will also likely put it approximately on par with pricing for the EcoSport.
Not surprisingly, Ford declined to comment on Automotive News’ report, stating simply that it doesn’t discuss future products. With the demise of its affordable sedans, leaving the sportier Mustang as its only traditional car, the company’s lack of entry-level offerings has been a concern for its dealers of late, however.
But with the Fiesta, Focus and Fusion together having sold almost 340,000 units in their final year, the P758 will only go some of the way to filling that gap. Production of the new model is expected to take place in Hermosillo, Mexico, with a total of just 100,000 units rolling off the lines each year. And while sales of the EcoSport crossover are climbing, they’ve yet to reach even 70,000 units annually, so there’s still quite some way to go even to equal the lost sedan sales.
Still, with a sub-$20k pricetag, the new model looks set to compete strongly on price, which is clearly an important concern among FTE forum members. Among current models, the nearest rivals are trucks like the Nissan Frontier (also known in some markets as the Navara or NP300), as well as the closely-related Chevy Colorado and GMC Canyon.
As of right now, the Frontier is the most affordable option in the US market, priced at around $19,290, but its price is expected to climb when a long-awaited overhaul arrives in the first half of next year. Base models of the 2020 Chevy Colorado and GMC Canyon, meanwhile, list for $21,300 and $22,200 respectively.
Beyond those details, the rumor mill has relatively little information currently available about the new compact pickup. We do know that it will have a unibody design, but that’s to be expected at the entry-level, where on-road performance and driveability is more important than off-roading ability and maximum haulage.
Photos: sicarr; RL GNZLZ; and IFCAR/Wikimedia Commons
