Ford may be keeping the Ranger

[MountaineerGreen]

I for one, will not be buying a new Ford anytime soon. The thing that kills me is they don't offer a capable mid size vehicle- for those who fall in the middle between a v6 ranger and a F150. I'd love to see a bigger ranger with strong v6 options or possibly a small v8 and a transmission that doesn't need rebuilt at 70k.

The only sold rear axle vehicles left are the Ranger and the F150. So, you can haul 1700 lbs or 7700 lbs, nothing in the middle. IRS is terrible for towing/hauling, so the new Sport Trac is nothing more than a car with a bed in many respects, though they rate it for some fairly significant loads, how does it carry that on struts :scratch:

The day they quit the 2nd generation explorer/sport trac platform, they messed up as far as I am concerned.

 

[dervdave]

not like "I told you so" but to be honest I was the first to point out that Ford has some great small cars in production in Europe - cars that they should be selling in the States. The entire crisis could be seen long time ago - instead of loosing $15 bln they could be making that much by now. It's kind of funny to look at the line-up of cars and trucks in America, lineup that has not been overhauled in ages and think "How could they loose the grip"... big, big, big and even bigger...

hope to see new Ranger show-up as well... that would be nice.

UK Ford line-up - UK Ford website

Yep this is the Ranger we`ve got in the UK, mines the same as this -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GK0K0cdjDfk&feature=related

 

[Tbars4]

...Ranger owners, be sure to add pics of your rangers here...
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=221238

 

[Rick]

...The decisions ford makes without considering the input from it's customers is just beyond me...This is probably the only industry that thinks they know better than the customer, what the customer wants...

I'll never forget after the big runs we took with the Ford Explorer engineering team, their lead engineer called me and asked if the demographics for our group were correct. It seemed their bean counters refused to believe that the vast majority of our group held professional positions.

I guess they figured the only folks who would consider taking a Ford Explorer four wheeling were rednecks, or something to that effect. I guess they didn't consider that the person who approached Ford and asked them to join us on our runs, held a PhD. He may have been the highest educated of the bunch, but the majority of the group held professional positions as well.

We're still waiting for our "Jeep Eater".

 

[Tbars4]

...This whole thing is reminding me of about 1974-1976 when Ford had a better idea and decided to go small...

...Gas prices shot up so Ford came out with such fine vehicles as the Pinto and Maverick...:thumbdwn:

...At least somebody had enough sense as to bring the Ford Courier back as the Ford Ranger...

...Since then, the only vehicle I have seen from Ford that has gotten any excitement out of me is the modern Mustang with the classic lines...

 

[Dre]

It's not just that... it's also lack of thinking ahead. No vision of tomorrow's market at all. Building bigger trucks, bigger engines. Competition is way ahead of them with pretty much all the gadgets and add-ons standard when the big three offer ABS brakes as an option...

it was nice of them to drop AM only radios... and the 8-tracks.

 

[Tbars4]

it was nice of them to drop AM only radios... and the 8-tracks...

.....They dropped the 8 tracks???...What am I going to do with all these tapes...I refuse to upgrade to cassette...

 

[Scott B.]

I guess they figured the only folks who would consider taking a Ford Explorer four wheeling were rednecks...

I resemble that remark!

 

[motorman2008]

Well, I think dropping the Ranger is a stupid idea. I dont know about anyone else but I get a sweet 28 average mpg with my 4.0 litre FX4 and I've yet to have any trouble out of a ranger and I've owned 3..

 

[lonestar]

new RANGER they call it. 3 liter diesel engine, 5 speed manual tranny...

SWEET....

I hear that is part of the plan, sell EURO models in US

Never understood why other countries got such good looking 'US' vehicles. I'm sure EPA regs kill most of the coolness...

 

[Rick]

In their restructuring the big three's bean counters should be the first to go... Their engineers are doing some great things, but the ones who hold the purse strings won't let the good stuff be built or distributed in the US.

 

[410Fortune]

Im shocked!

Anyone else notice that every time they come out with a new Ranger they say, no more Ranger....then a couple years later, NEW RANGER!
They dod the same damn thing with the Mustang

Why? Why in the world would you get rid of the nameplate on your best selling product?
instead create controversey by saying its gone, its here, its gone again....keeps it in the media IMO

 

[scotttmbolt]

I don't understand why FORD doesn't bring more of those Euro cars over this way. I was looking on their Euro website and some of those things look damn cool... cooler then any ugly Ford Flex IMO.

 

[heathmo]

410Fortune makes a good point, keeping the controversy up keeps it in the media. With the name everywhere it's good cheap publicity. But, I don't agree with sending the truck overseas to be built. Seems like a contradictory idea, because of where we are now, having to bail out these automakers, yet they're going to send jobs to South Africa. That makes me want to buy it much less. I like that on the back of my truck there's a sticker that says it was built in Kentucky. At least I feel more like I bought an American truck. And most of the truck market is still guys who remember the old trucks, the ones that just wouldn't die, I've seen tons of those really really old trucks driving around, they still use them to haul heavy loads and stuff, because they're tough and last, and newer American trucks are losing that rep. And sad to say the Japanese trucks are getting the rep for dependability. It just seems counter intuitive to close the factory that American workers have been building Ford Rangers for years and send their jobs to South African workers because it costs Ford less, well get rid of the UAW, hire non-union employees and do what the other guys do.

The Ranger is a very well-known and stable platform, the whole compact/midsize pickup line is probably gaining a lot of popularity. I doubt Ford would be dumb enough to remove it from their lineup. Even with gas prices dropping, it's a matter of time before they go up again, and the economy sucks anyways, so a small truck that can do almost all of the same work that a full-size can do would be a blessing to most. That's what people want and need, and make the engines more efficient. They know how to do, they can do it, they've just chosen not to for years. Aldive's work on his truck is shining proof that they could make these vehicles way more efficient than they do. It's just a matter of more expensive parts, If it means that someone can't make $75/hr to do that then so be it. I'm happy enough to make about $10/hr, so if they have to go to $45/hr then that's fine by me.

 

[Joe Dirt]

I don't understand why FORD doesn't bring more of those Euro cars over this way. I was looking on their Euro website and some of those things look damn cool... cooler then any ugly Ford Flex IMO.

Cost prohibitive, and emissions laws prevent it from being economically feasible.