What Will Ford's New Compact Pickup Really Be Like?

Connect the Dots

Rumors have been swirling for a couple of years now that Ford is working on a brand new compact pickup that'll slot beneath the reborn Ranger. Which is obviously music to the ears of old school Ranger fans, who miss the days when it was a small, affordable pickup. Not an 8/10th scale F-150. What we don't know, however, is what this new entry-level truck will actually be like. Thus, we thought it would be prudent to play a game of connect the dots and try to figure it out.

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Price Is Right

Those who believe new trucks have simply gotten too expensive will undoubtedly be pleased to know that the new compact Ford is slated to have a starting price under $20,000. This is a big deal, obviously, and makes it considerably cheaper than the base Ranger ($24,110) and F-150 ($28,745), and it's sure to appeal to first-time truck buyers who need a little more utility in their life. Those folks are also more likely to trade up to something bigger in the future, too.

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Controversial Layout

Old school truck fans will be disappointed to learn, however, that the new compact pickup will likely ride on a modified version of the European Focus platform, not a traditional body-on-frame design. If true, that means the truck will likely be front-wheel-drive, which is a hard pill to swallow for truck fans, even if all-wheel-drive is optional. For now, however, this is just a rumor, so we can still hold out hope that Ford will go a different route. After all, the Blue Oval turned back to a rear-wheel-drive layout for the Explorer in its latest generation.

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Styling Cues

As far as design goes, well, we don't know much about that either. But the compact Ford truck was reportedly shown off to dealers at a conference in Arizona, who said that it looks a lot like the old Ranger from the side. If true, that would obviously appeal to fans, who still love that pickup's styling. We would certainly expect many of the new truck's styling cues to fall in line with those of the next-gen Ranger, along with the F-150 and perhaps even the Baby Bronco, as Ford works to establish its new virtually car-less future.

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Power Options

Of course, drivetrain options also remain a mystery. But you can almost bet that the new compact pickup will pack at least one four-cylinder option and maybe a six-cylinder offering, though that's probably unlikely. If the truck winds up being based on the Focus platform, we can assume that it'll come with either the 1.5-liter and/or 2.0-liter turbo offerings currently in the passenger car. Which would give it plenty of power, at the very least. 

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Shifting Gears

That would also mean we can safely expect an 8-speed automatic transmission option, at the very least. A manual, well, that's probably a pipe dream, but would make us purists quite happy. As of now, Ford's new compact pickup is slated to be released in late 2021 or early 2022, so we won't have to wait too long to find out.

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Pipe Dream

Of course, building our idea of the perfect compact pickup is easy. Give us a manual transmission, rear-wheel-drive with optional four-wheel-drive and a traditional body-on-frame platform, and sell us a base version with zero options for a super cheap price. Whether or not Ford actually delivers this dream, however, remains to be seen.

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>>Join the conversation about a new compact pickup right here in the Ford Trucks Forum!

For help with service of your truck, check out the how to section of Ford-Trucks.com