Ford defends killing the US Ranger...
#31
If you count the Courier, Ford has been in the small truck market since the beginning, 1972 anyway...............Seems to be very shortsighted to remove yourself from a entire market.
No bailout aside, some of the decisions and products from Dearborn of late are starting to seem worrisome.
No bailout aside, some of the decisions and products from Dearborn of late are starting to seem worrisome.
Josh
#34
#37
#39
So, is Ford a great truck builder...or just a great F-150 builder? If it's the former, then you find a way to remain competitive in the small truck marketspace. Giving up and pulling out the excuse bag is pretty lame. Fire the lot that made this decision; weak minded tactics. As pointed out here, Ford made moves like these for the Taurus and the Crown Vic. Are they thinking that the third time is the charm? I suspect the other members are right - the Ranger will return after a year or two off.
Kevin
P.S. as for the Frontier - it's one ugly truck. I can't speculate on the large amount of plastic in the interior, but the exterior styling is so lacking to me, I wouldn't get close enough to look inside to confirm. I drove an older model a few years ago (my nephew was looking for a truck). Rode horribly and made me feel very good about my Ranger. Just my opinion though.
#40
Toyota Sales folks are grinning!!
Here's another detail (from a Quality Professional who's done a lot of reading on Customer Satisfaction). The cost of keeping a loyal customer is far smaller than the cost of trying to get one back. Dr. Deming taught this point to Ford in the mid '80s. Perhaps the top Quality guy at Ford needs to crack a book or two as with the top Sales & Marketing guy.
#41
I can see where Ford is concerned with taking sales from the F-series. It would be pretty darn humiliating to pat yourself on the back for 34 years and then all of a sudden Chevy can advertise being #1 Truck...
But, is McDonalds worried about taking sales from the BigMac when they come out with the McRib?
And really, at the VERY LEAST, how hard would it have been to at least have a Fleet/Contractor grade Ranger? Ford barely sells 60,000 of the brand new Taurus. Even when the old Taurus was supposedly "barely" moving off the lots it was still selling over 300,000 units.
Josh
But, is McDonalds worried about taking sales from the BigMac when they come out with the McRib?
And really, at the VERY LEAST, how hard would it have been to at least have a Fleet/Contractor grade Ranger? Ford barely sells 60,000 of the brand new Taurus. Even when the old Taurus was supposedly "barely" moving off the lots it was still selling over 300,000 units.
Josh
#42
#43
#44
Which is a bit of a shame really, granted the 83-84 non-turbo Rangers were a bit of a dog (though i love mine ), the 85-87 turbo Rangers did have some "get up and go" to them.
#45