Who knew this about the Ford Ranger?

[Forever Blue]

It makes you wonder why they still don't promote the Ranger more in N. Am. I get that the F-150 has been a best-seller for most (if not all) of everyone's life, but a full-size truck doesn't fit everyone's needs, budget or lifestyle.

We’ll said, you are right, always loved my F150s, but I don’t need a full-size truck any more.

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[JimJa]

@ Rob. Farley has said he wants to get warranty claims under control - Ford's is the worst in the industry and is costing the company billions. A guess on my part, but suspect the reason only 100 Rangers were built was ironing out QC issues. Ford began a third shift a few weeks ago and Rangers are building up on Ford's lots ... with none being shipped. Why? Lots of speculation, but only Ford knows.

Another fun fact: Sweden drove on the left side with LHD vehicles. In the '50s they decided to change to drive on the right side. The put up new signage throughout the country but covered them with cloth covers. Lots of press about the changeover and during early morning one day, they switched sides, driving on the right side. Everyone was asked to remove the covered sign(s) near where they were and place them over the old signs on the left. It went very smoothly and in fact, the accident rate went almost to zero as drivers drove cautiously until comfortable with the rules. As a kid I remember seeing pictures in our paper of people changing the covers and moving to the other side. Somewhat eye opening when thinking that the entire country did the change all at once.

 

[Sky Soldier]

They do not want to lose the "best selling pickup for xx years in a row".

In NA, I still maintain the reason the Ranger doesn't sell better is because they aren't MAKING that many Rangers. They've prioritized Bronco builds instead of Ranger builds. I think I read in January they only built a little over 100 Rangers - that is really sad.

I have a 2023 XLT FX4 Ranger. I understand only 29,588 2023 Rangers were built. By the way, I love the truck. I would definitely buy one again.

 

[Motorpsychology]

Yes it was designed here for the global market from the outset - hence the name. I'm surprised that North America was one of the last areas to get get it.

Ford needed a factory, and had one scheduled for downtime. As early as 2013, Ford was floating the idea of a resurgence of the Bronco. Under Mark Fields, then CEO, some ideas and renderings started to gel, from a little Bronco ll size built off the South American Ford Troller, which was built off a shortened global Ranger T6 frame in 2014, before the US got the Ranger. Another concept was to use a modified F-150 frame.

Perfect storm.
By 2016, Ford wound down manufacturing in Australia, and the US Focus was discontinued and production ended in the spring of 2018 at Wayne MI, known internally as Michigan Assembly Plant or MAP. Ford already had a "Bronco" in South America (Troller) built on T6 architecture, so the return of the US Bronco on the T6 was a no brainer.
AUS Ranger tooling was packed up and shipped to MAP, and Ranger production began in late 2018 for the 2019 model year. The U275 2022 Bronco was also developed using the Ranger's T6 frame (shortened and widened) and production began in the summer off 2021.
The 2024 6G Ranger utilizes new the modular frame. It has a 2 inch wider track and a 2 inch longer wheelbase, with nearly identical overall length. The front axle is moved forward to make room for a larger cab and to accommodate a V6.
Ranger is still the unloved middle child within Ford NA, Stuck between the F-Series and the popular Maverick, and production of the Bronco is favored over the Ranger, 2,644 vs 12,143 Broncos produced in January 2024.

The 6G Ranger is scheduled to be in production until 2029 (2030MY), time will tell. No facts to back it up, but one scenario I come up with is the Ranger morphs to become a downsized "F100-150" while SuperDuty stays the same. More people are balking at, but still buying, big F150s and this would be a way to take advantage of Ranger's size and cost, and use the magic F-Series name.
Fun to watch.
2014 Brazilian Troller T4

Early Ford Bronco Concepts

 

[Davidjc]

Here's an article in the latest FA:
https://fordauthority.com/2024/02/farley-says-ford-almost-pulled-out-of-australia/

It caught my eye, but this is what I found the most interesting - it's an extract from the article - Farley states:

“The second highest volume vehicle at Ford is Ranger. Ranger globally outsells Super Duty. We are now number two in pickups outside of the U.S. and pickups are growing big time. We sell 5,000 Raptors in China for $150,000 each, and we’re the best-selling vehicle in Australia. We almost pulled out of Australia. The Ranger is number one in South Africa, huge pickup market. We’re number one in pickups in Europe. The Ranger is growing and super profitable in South America. It is our only vehicle in South America.”

Who knew???

I didn't know it. In my travels to other countries, toyotas are in the majority. Hopefully ford will concentrate on rangers here now.

 

[Beach]

The dude talks like trump wtf lmao.

we are the best! at losing $

 

[Motorpsychology]

I didn't know it. In my travels to other countries, toyotas are in the majority. Hopefully ford will concentrate on rangers here now.

I think quality control is finally taking hold at Ford US. MAP is capable of sustained production of about 260,000 vehicles per year and a peak production rate of slightly above 300,000. As of January, they are running at about 175-180,000/yr. I think the lag is partly due to supply chain bottlenecks, but mainly greater attention to production quality.

 

[OrangeStreak]

The Ranger competes with the Hilux as number 1 pickup throughout the world. Americans want big pickups, and the Tacoma dominates the US market for 'small', while F150s dominate for midsized. This doesn't surprise me at all. F series trucks will always be Ford's bread and butter in the US. Most Ranger owners probably went to look at the F150 and left with the Ranger when they realized it better suited their needs.

Also, The F-150 is too large to fit into many garages. The garage in my house that was built in the 80's would only leave 1" of space inside for a 2018 F-150 SCab (just a hair over 19' in length according to Ford specs). The Ranger is a perfect fit with around 10" of space from the front wall and the same from the back wall inside the garage.

 

[Bob902]

Also, The F-150 is too large to fit into many garages. The garage in my house that was built in the 80's would only leave 1" of space inside for a 2018 F-150 SCab (just a hair over 19' in length according to Ford specs). The Ranger is a perfect fit with around 10" of space from the front wall and the the same from the back wall inside the garage.

Our subdivision was built in 2016. Everyone of our neighbors that have full trucks, park them in the driveway. My Ranger fits but it is tight.

 

[Cmar]

They do not want to lose the "best selling pickup for xx years in a row".

In NA, I still maintain the reason the Ranger doesn't sell better is because they aren't MAKING that many Rangers. They've prioritized Bronco builds instead of Ranger builds. I think I read in January they only built a little over 100 Rangers - that is really sad.

Is that because they're winding down for the switch production to 6G? Are they just cleaning up the last of the 5G bits and pieces.

 

[Cmar]

Ford needed a factory, and had one scheduled for downtime. As early as 2013, Ford was floating the idea of a resurgence of the Bronco. Under Mark Fields, then CEO, some ideas and renderings started to gel, from a little Bronco ll size built off the South American Ford Troller, which was built off a shortened global Ranger T6 frame in 2014, before the US got the Ranger. Another concept was to use a modified F-150 frame.

Perfect storm.
By 2016, Ford wound down manufacturing in Australia, and the US Focus was discontinued and production ended in the spring of 2018 at Wayne MI, known internally as Michigan Assembly Plant or MAP. Ford already had a "Bronco" in South America (Troller) built on T6 architecture, so the return of the US Bronco on the T6 was a no brainer.
AUS Ranger tooling was packed up and shipped to MAP, and Ranger production began in late 2018 for the 2019 model year. The U275 2022 Bronco was also developed using the Ranger's T6 frame (shortened and widened) and production began in the summer off 2021.
The 2024 6G Ranger utilizes new the modular frame. It has a 2 inch wider track and a 2 inch longer wheelbase, with nearly identical overall length. The front axle is moved forward to make room for a larger cab and to accommodate a V6.
Ranger is still the unloved middle child within Ford NA, Stuck between the F-Series and the popular Maverick, and production of the Bronco is favored over the Ranger, 2,644 vs 12,143 Broncos produced in January 2024.

The 6G Ranger is scheduled to be in production until 2029 (2030MY), time will tell. No facts to back it up, but one scenario I come up with is the Ranger morphs to become a downsized "F100-150" while SuperDuty stays the same. More people are balking at, but still buying, big F150s and this would be a way to take advantage of Ranger's size and cost, and use the magic F-Series name.
Fun to watch.
2014 Brazilian Troller T4

Early Ford Bronco Concepts

Jeep would probably have tried to sue over the first option! Interesting Fact, the Troller T4 (first picture) also used the Ford 3.2 i5 diesel as used in the Global Ranger everywhere except North America after Ford took them over.

 

[RedlandRanger]

Is that because they're winding down for the switch production to 6G? Are they just cleaning up the last of the 5G bits and pieces.

The 5G ended production last year. Any production now would all be 6G models.

 

[BDUb]

I was looking at the 4 door, long bed, Chevy Colorado with a diesel the price was close if not the same as a F150 or 1500. Then I saw the news that the Ranger was coming back out. As soon as a dealer had one. I drove my POS Subaru that only had 30k miles on it and was gulping down oil and have valve train issues that the dealers said was "normal" and traded it in for a 2019 4x4 ford ranger. This is year five of owning a Ranger and every day I can't believe I get to drive this awesome truck. Last weekend we went to Ocotillo wells out near the Salton sea in California and the truck did so much better than I thought it was going to. I will be doing shocks soon as my stock ones are starting to go. I have 67k miles on the truck.

 

[lildobe]

Most Ranger owners probably went to look at the F150 and left with the Ranger when they realized it better suited their needs.

I sure did. I test drove both F-150s and Rangers when I was looking to replace my 2006 F350 SD... And I found that, not only was the interior of the Ranger more comfortable for my fat ass, the size and towing capacity weren't THAT much different, and the few inches shorter wheelbase of a crew-cab Ranger made it that much easier to parallel park, which I have to do multiple times a day.

Plus I remembered how much I loved my '04 Ranger.

 

[Sojourner]

Love my F-150. Love my Ranger. Like kids, you can legit say "I love you the most" to both and it be true.

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