Our newest Question of the Week from the Ford-Trucks.com front page wants to know if you think that Ford should bring back the Ranger for the US market.

Make your pick in the poll above and share your thoughts on the topic below!

 

I definitely don't want the overseas Ranger here. It's butt-ugly and it's almost the same size as an F150 anyway, so it'd be totally pointless. I would like the Ranger to come back though, one that's similar to the last generation.

 

I think the new Rangers are ugly also. I liked the one from a few years back. Same body as the one here but with 4 doors. The Air Force used them all the time at overseas bases. I loved them.

 

I like the overseas model. What I've read is that it is so close in size and price to the F150 that they see no point in trying to sell it here. The claims on efficiency...well, if it was offered with either Ecoboost or diesel, namely the latter, I think it could do well. Anyone I've ever known to have owned a Ranger, myself included, loved their Ranger. They were very tough, absolutely unkillable. They did get good mileage. It would not make sense to create an entire new Ranger line just for the US. My cousin used to be a Ford salesman. He said in 5 years he sold maybe 10 of them. The general public didn't want a truck that small anymore. The Sport-Trac filled the bill for most of those wanting a Ranger.

I would love to see the overseas Ranger here, as well as offering a Raptor-like model.

And just in case Ford is watching....

OFFER THE RANGER WITH A DIESEL!!!!!!!!!!!

could probably get over 30 mpg with a small diesel.

Cheers

 

i think the 2L Ecoboost would work great in a little truck, possibly a 4 door option as well. However I don't think Ford will do it because they have marketed the F-150 so hard.

 

It wouldn't make sense to manufacture a whole other vehicle for such a small market. I have never ran into anyone that disliked a ranger, but I also don't know many that would go buy a new one. There are two common types of truck buyers, the grocery and family haulers and those that use it as a truck. The grocery/family hauler is going to need the larger interior of the F-150 and the people that work them will want the larger capabilities.

Also, manufacturing another vehicle will drive up the prices of the current one. I prefer they offer less models at lower price points with more options. The Raptor is built on the same line as regular F-150s and that keeps the prices lower since it can all be done in one despite how different the vehicles are. I think they should just invest in developing more options on the F-150 like maybe a lower version or (since the raptor is wider) a narrower than standard version to fill the small truck spot. That last idea may not be cost effective but y'all get the idea.

 

There was nothing wrong with the outgoing Ranger it had more than enough size and towing capacity for those that bought them, bring it back with a 2.0l or 2.3L ecoboost and the 4 door option that they sold everywhere else except north america, problem solved... no need for a diesel. The european Ranger is too close to the size of an F150 so it won't sell here, too big and thirsty for those looking for a small truck, but not big enough for those that are already buying a supercrew F150.

 

I agree they should bring back the Ranger as a small truck. If they made them approximately the same size & shape of the 2011's with one of the modern powerplants (ecoboost, diesel, etc.), I believe we could see better gas mileage than the F150 gets.

 

Yes bring if back with the 3.7 from the Mustang, 307hp in a Ranger would be make it quick and capable or the diesel from the Transit, 30+ mpg's and last longer than the chassis it was put in

 

No doubt it would be capable, but it wouldn't sell any better than the 2011 ranger.

 

If I could buy a new or slightly used Ranger today I would in a minute, and I do expect to be purchasing in the next year.

My 02 FX4 Ranger has been very reliable and durable for daily driving, utility and light off-road. Bought it in 03 with about 12k on the odo, had some issues with the transmission and torsen diff while still in warranty. Needed a new fuel pump at 50k. The next 130k was routine maintenance and some very minor repairs. Currently has 200k on the odo.

Unfortunately I can't buy a new Ranger, so my options are:

F150 - I drove full size F150/F250 pickups for 15 years as daily drivers before the Ranger. After driving the Ranger I realized and have no need or desire to go back to larger truck.

Explorer/Sport-trac - I want a pickup with a box, not an SUV with a mini box.

Nissan Frontier - no

So at this point it's a tossup between the Toyota Tacoma or the Chevy Colorado, but that means leaving the Ford brand.

 

Sales were due to a marketing decision to let the Ranger die, Ford didn't promote or improve them at all because there was more profit in full size trucks, not because people didn't want them.
Could have bought a f150 in '09 during "Cash for clunkers" program for not that much more money, way too big in regards to driving, parking, upkeep, usage and fuel consumption.
Instead brought Henry ('09, XLT, 2.3, 5sp auto) home, he has 20,000 miles on him and at this rate will outlast me

 

From the amounts of Rangers I see everyday during my 80 mile commute, for a truck that hasn't been built in it's latest form since 2011, a LOT of people seem to agree that Rangers were good trucks and would still sell well.
Bring it back as it was and add a crew-cab 4-door, eco-boost motor and all the techno-trash everybody seems to HAVE to have in the cab.
Making the only option to enter the Ford Truck world being a full-size F-150, is bringing tons of dollars to yota and GM, and turning a deaf ear to the tens of thousands of consumers who do not need or want a full-size truck as a daily driver, but need more capability than a min-van or small SUV.

 

THe sales figures for small pickups across the board are terrible compared to their full-size counterparts. I am amazed the gm small trucks are even still produced. Since 2009 the combined canyon and colorado sales have been less than 50,000 vehicles.

Calendar Year____Colorado___Canyon___Total U.S. sales
2004___________117,475____27,193____144,668
2005___________128,359____34,845____163,204
2006____________93,876____23,979____117,855
2007____________75,716____20,888_____96,604
2008____________54,346____14,974_____69,320
2009____________32,413____10,107_____42,520
2010____________24,642_____7,992_____32,634
2011____________31,026_____9,590_____40,616
2012____________36,840_____8,735_____45,575
2013____________3,412_______929______4,341

The Toyota is doing significantly better in the small truck market and the Tacoma is actually beating the Tundra by a lot. Sales were dropping on the Tacoma until after 2011 when apparently a good portion of Ranger buyers moved to Toyota and sales of the Tacoma hit over 150,000. The Nissan Frontier does similar to Toyota in that the small pickup dwarfs its big brother the Titan in sales, but the Frontier averages only around 50,000 in sales with the Titan at less than half that a year.

My theory is that the foreign automakers simply don't produce a great full-size truck, but have proven themselves in the small truck market. North America and Australia are essentially the only markets in the world for full size trucks and US automakers take advantage of that.

Even if half of all small pickup truck buyers in the US bought a new ranger the first year it came out the sales would only be around 115,000 trucks. The trend shown in a all small pickup sales across the board (Dakota, Canyon, Colorado, Tacoma, Frontier, Ranger) have all been in decline over the past several years except for a small spike in the Frontier and a larger one in the Tacoma after 2011. There is no evidence to support that sales would be anywhere close to the 115,000 mark and because of that it wouldn't make sense to bring back a new model.

I know in the Ranger forum it is going to be a little biased, but it would not help FoMoCo to bring back the Ranger when small pickup sales are declining and Full-Size sales keep increasing.

 

I am on my third Ranger and love it. Whats wrong with putting the eco boost in the ranger. Ford did it ti the Mustang.