Ford execs defend killing Ranger pickup in USA

Josh

 

The exec in the article appears absolutely sure that the new Ranger size won't be as excepted here than say, Thailand...'probably'.

Working for an exec like that would give the honest worker confidence...'probably'

Well, sounds like the usual Western Management in play here...too bad. Lots of folks paying the larger price...with their jobs.

 

Yeah, well after the suburbanites ruined the F150 with their market demand for a behemoth fully loaded driveway ornament, the F150 has become Ford's pet truck and nothing better hurt its sales, not even the beloved Ranger, which by the way, it slowly being ruined similarly to what happened to the F150. Carp, they kept the Aerostar going for 2 extra years due to consumer outcry, and they kept the Mustang a rear wheel drive after consumer outcry (they were going to make it a front driver on the Probe platform).

 

I could see Ford bringing the Ranger back... Look at the backlash dropping the Taurus did.

Give the truck a modern 4 and 6 cylinder with mileage at 30+ and sales would soar.

At the expense of the F150 of course.

Josh

 

I still dont understand Ford's thinking on this. I own a small company, and I was in the market for a SMALL truck. I have no use for an F150, its too big, too expensive to insure, doesn't get good enough gas mileage (good for a fullsize, but not for a compact) too hard to maneuver in the city. I won't even consider one, so Ford is now out of the question for my next vehicle, simple as that.

 

We'll be pushed to the dark side (GMC Canyon has manual transmission so does the Ch**v counterpart in the very base model, Work Truck). Work Truck has a nice ring to it, just the essentials. Yeah, I can deal with that. Never a Ch**y though, but I do think the GMC grill is decent. Oh help me I can't stand the new Ford superduty grill, what is this a contest to see how massive of an eyesore can be tacked onto the front of a truck?

 

I think we should get about a dozen guys together that are ready and willing to purchase; make a trip down to Argentina and buy a dozen new Rangers.. Just for spite.. (I don't really like them that much) I'll just go for point guard.

If they can do it for drugs in Canada, we should be able to make the short trip down south.

 

I'm ok with the trucks turned family vehicle. The thing of it is that trucks built with the purpose of hauling/towing/moving stuff and use as a DD have a place to. I think that most Ranger drivers are probably in the latter definition.

So, fill the void. Someone will do it if Ford doesn't want to. I hear what you are saying Josh: no doubt some will opt for the global Ranger instead of the F150. It cracks me up when manufacturers worry about canibalizing sales from one of their offerings on sales of another. Chevy exec's worried about the canibalization of sales of station wagons when they developed the concept minivan. They scrapped the concept. A year later the Grand Caravan emerged. The rest is history.

I wonder what kind of executives Ford has working for them? They 'probably' don't really know.

Kevin

 

When Toyota Tacoma fleet sales soar in a year or two Ford might re-think this position. Same thing with Police Crown Vics and Rental Taurus cars.

 

I think it will be back, but the mpg's need to improve, they are not really no better than a F-150 according to the window sticker. I used to work for Nissan and a buddy owns a Frontier, if you like a hard plastic interior than you'd be in love, yeeech!

 

That's the thing, give an updated Ranger an EcoBoost 4 banger engine with 30+ mpg and sales would soar.

But, it would cut into F150 and likely some of the other vehicles sales as well.

To save the F150, just offer 3 trim levels.

1) Contractor/Work... bare bones: 4 cylinder engine, bench seat, AM/FM radio, rubber mat, manual door locks and windows, basically no frills. The only options would be manual or automatic and A/C

2) Base Unit... power windows and doors, Stereo with CD and ipod, A/C, 60/40 bench, carpet, some digital doo-dads. 4 Cylinder EcoBoost with manual or automatic

3) XLT... power everything, bucket seats, nicer stereo, nicer wheels, you know stuff like that. Maybe even a trick or two like the tailgate step. EcoBoost 4 banger or Mustang V6 cylinder engine with manual or automatic.

And that's it. Don't make too many options and make it affordable for fleet sales, an extra vehicle for a family or a good mileage truck for commuters and don't market to off-road, heavy haulers or driveway queens.

I didn't even mention a diesel which, IMHO, would definately do wonders for sales.

As for the Nissan Frontier. I had a 2003 Supercharged SVE 4X4 and loved that truck. I didn't think the truck was too plastic. What's funny, I was either going with a new Hemi Dodge Ram, or the last year of the 2003 F150 before the 04 came out. I liked the Frontier the best. But I like Nissans only 2nd to Fords. I have had a 1997 Pathfinder as well. And currently have a Nissan Maxima for the wife. Me? I dink around in my 87 Ranger

Josh

 

I like the older nissans before Renault came into the picture. I was referring to what they make now. I guess if you want it as a work truck than a durable interior is a good idea, but it's just ugly. Reminds me of some of the cheap interiors of some chrysler products a few years back.

 

Gotcha... I haven't seen inside the newer Frontiers, Titans or Pathfinders. Just our 2007 Maxima.

Josh

 

Is Ford telling me that my next Ranger will have a Nissan nameplate. I recently upgraded my '91 Ranger to an '08 XLT extended cab Ranger because I won't be able to buy a new Ranger in the future and I most certainly will NOT be buying an F-150.

Why not an F-150? I could get a new 2011 Ranger for as little as $18,160 or a bare bones F-150 XL extended cab for a little (?) as $22,990 (from Ford website). Or I could get an XL with equipment comparable to my Ranger for $29,815. Or I could go to an F-150 XLT extended cab with the added equipment need to make the truck useful (side steps and rear ladder) for $34,390. The price has nearly doubled . And what have I got? I would have a truck that is too long and too wide for my garage. My wife would have trouble getting into the cab. Unless I have the steps and ladder, the sides of the bed are too high to get many items out of it. All of these are things that are not a problem with my Ranger plus gas mileage wouldn't be as good, insurance would be more expensive as well as more expensive plates. No thank you!

And the Ford execs think I will upgrade (?) to an F-150. No way. I will stay with something more reasonable and manoverable such as - - - - a Nissan?

 

Ford may or may not have something up their sleeve. Just look at the last vehicle produced dedication.. where did it go? Orkin.

Not sure about where you guys live, but every NAPA in the area here uses Ford Rangers.

And many many more companies also use Rangers. I hardly ever see little GM trucks and maybe a few more Tacomas, but the Rangers definately dominate the delvery and "go-getter" service industry.

I can only think of Ford dropping the Crown Vic and then later debuting the all new Police Interceptor.

Ford dropping the Taurus, trying to rename it 500, bombing and renaming it Taurus and then completely redesigning it.

Ford put a lot of effort into the new Explorer, but then again it doesn't matter much if it's sales dig into the Expedition... or even vice versa.

Ranger digging into the F150 is a problem as Ford cannot let Chevy take over #1 selling truck.

Solution? Rename the Ranger the F100 and it's sales would be included with the F-Series.

Josh