2020 Ranger: Will it get the 2.7 V-6 Eco Boost?

[joeb427]

So, let's take a look at what sales *could* be. We're going to make a few assumptions, and we're going to use some data that we know. For starters, the Ranger is being made at MAP, which recently underwent all sorts of new tooling in order to make the RWD Body on Frame Ranger instead of the FWD Unibody Focus. We also know that MAP runs a single shift, and that a couple months ago they said they were running over time. Let's assume that means either 6 days @ 8 hours, or more likely, 5 days @ 10 hours - they're both very close, so we'll just say 50hrs / week of production. Let's also assume the generic 60 sec line speed. I don't know exactly what it is, but most assembly plants fall between 50 and 70 seconds, you can go slower if you don't have enough floor space so you need to do a lot in each station, but there's only so much that you can do because you only have so much line space to provide parts to do the installs... And you can go faster, but most plants don't have an excess of space to spread it out, and it becomes more of a burden on the employee.

With that, we can assume they have the ability to make 600 a day, or 3000 a week, or 12,900 a month. That means that annual sales would be capped at 154,800 units. But that's assuming 100% uptime, even a good plant only achieves 95%, and this is a brand new vehicle architecture - they've had some time to figure it all out, but I would guess they're closer to 90% at this time instead of 95%. Which means monthly volumes maxes out at 11,610, and annual 139,320.

Okay good... we've figured out what Ford is targeting from a max sales perspective. That may or may not be what they're actually targeting for long term stability. But we do know that the industry targets a certain level of "days of inventory on lot," somewhere around 75 days. If they're selling 140k a year, that means they want 28,767 Rangers sitting on the lots on any given day... Some analysts have found that to be the targeted time on lot, balancing carrying costs of having the truck sit vs. availability to the customer.

I'm going to lump Jan, Feb, Mar into a single month of production, knowing that they were really slow and whatnot for all of that time period. So we have "4 months" of production thus far, or about 45,000 Rangers produced. I believe the Q1 results showed that they had sold 9k already, leaving 36k trucks available to purchase and to stock the lots. Even if we assume that only 5k a month (averaging the 9k for Feb/Mar) were sold for Apr, May, and June, that means 21k trucks are on the lots - still under the desired target. For reference, there are ~3k Ford Dealerships in the US (sorry Canada, I'm ignoring you) - which means that their target is an average of 7 Rangers per dealership ON THE LOT, available for a test drive, not sold, not retail ordered... sitting on the lot, available for you to drive and buy THAT day.



So, what does all of this mean? It means that Ford is still working towards building its inventory of Rangers. It means that they're not actively chasing sales. Which means that incentives haven't ramped up. Which means that monthly volumes haven't matched the expected volumes yet. Q2 results, due at the end of June, will provide us a greater idea of what the current dealer volume is (if they've sold 10k/mo that means that there's only ~6k on the lots, and they're still looking to build inventory... but if they've sold 3k, then they have their inventory, and Q3 should start seeing incentives and more sales). Once we know what the current dealer stock is, then we can start determining what the Q3 sales should be. The only time to really start worrying, is if the Q2 sales aren't high, indicating that they've reached the dealer stock level they want, and then Q3 sales aren't good, indicating that even with incentives, Ford is having a hard time pushing the Ranger. Then we can revisit this conversation. But until October, there's really not enough information to worry about it.

10%-12% off sticker in my area which is a suburb of Charlotte,NC. California may be more.

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[khyros]

10%-12% off sticker in my area. California may be more.

Herm, that brings up another point that I may have overlooked - it's possible that they're prioritizing certain areas of the US... Perhaps those 6 cities that they did commercials on, which are presumably identified as targeted markets.

 

[VAMike]

10%-12% off sticker in my area which is a suburb of Charlotte,NC. California may be more.

Which is nothing compared to the "discounts" from other manufacturers. Ergo, Ford is not trying desperately to push trucks off the lot because they're not worried.

 

[DHare]

The 2019 Ranger sales have been extremely dismal, even the crappy Frontier has beat out Ranger for the 2019 model thus far !!! And right in the middle of a dismal Ranger rollout Ford wants to introduce the Bronco? And, they skip bringing the Ranger Raptor to US? Makes no sense.

My local dealers sell F150's day-in day-out and have few to no Rangers.

Ford better figure something out, and fast. I would buy the v6 if it were available, would make for better towing and hauling ability for a mid pkup.

"few to no Rangers"??? A quick search found that Titus Will Ford in Tacoma has 44 Rangers in stock. Plus there are other Ford dealers in the area with Rangers in stock. Go back to your Toyota forum.

 

[chuck stein]

Such bullshit seems to be the typical comment from a TACO Owner visiting the RANGER Forum! Until Late March there was practically ZERO Inventory at Ford Dealers.

I sold my Tacoma to buy a Ranger, so what bullshit are you talking about?

I was only noting sales of the Truck, and now a 2022 model being sold in year 2021 (built on the Bronco platform)! And now a new Bronco coming in 2020! Why a complete new platform for Ranger just after a 2yr model run? The new Bronco platform must be way better to switch Ranger to it, and if its way better then why buy a 2019/2020 Ranger? Why not build the Bronco and the Ranger platform? Something seems off with Ford on this one.

see https://www.thedrive.com/news/27821...diocre-q1-sales-trails-behind-nissan-frontier

As for dealer stock, some here suggest they sell too fast to have stock, yet the one dealer in Tacoma has 44 Ranger's on their lot? Seems like the spec stocking biz model is not a good one.

All the Ford dealers by me have told me that they wont stock too many Rangers because they sell F150's day-in and day-out. A well equipped Ranger and you can get a decent F150.

 

[VAMike]

I was only noting sales of the Truck, and now a 2022 model being sold in year 2021 (built on the Bronco platform)! And now a new Bronco coming in 2020! Why a complete new platform for Ranger just after a 2yr model run?

Because they thought some people might want to buy this ranger now, instead of not having an opportunity to buy one for two years. I'm personally happy to be using my current ranger instead of just sitting and waiting for some other truck two years from now.

see https://www.thedrive.com/news/27821...diocre-q1-sales-trails-behind-nissan-frontier

Oh, that bullshit article again. How original. One more time: it's comparing sales of trucks that started building inventory last year with one that wasn't even on dealer lots Jan 1. A more interesting comparison is to compare sales after ranger production ramped up, but that doesn't generate clickbait headlines as easily.

A well equipped Ranger and you can get a decent F150.

That's like saying, "sure, you wear a size 10 shoe, but for the same money you could get a size 14 shoe and who wouldn't want a bigger shoe for the same money?" That's why shoes are priced based on how big they are, so people don't get the wrong idea and buy too much shoe, right?

 

[doug910]

Can we get back on topic to discuss the 2.7L? Arguing about production numbers is dumb with such a small data set.

 

[VAMike]

Can we get back on topic to discuss the 2.7L? Arguing about production numbers is dumb with such a small data set.

Sure: the 2.7 is still a dumb idea. Happy?

 

[NOVA_Ranger]

Why does anybody care about sales numbers? I got the truck I wanted (I assume you all did the same) and I couldn’t care less how many are sold beyond that.

 

[chuck stein]

Can we get back on topic to discuss the 2.7L? Arguing about production numbers is dumb with such a small data set.

Offer the v6, I'd buy that over the wimpy 4cyl.

There would likely be way more Ranger sales if a v6 was available because many folks, like myself, don't need a F150 but would be happy with the motor the F150 offers.

And it's only a 2.7L v6, my Tacoma was a 4cyl 2.7L. A turbo'd 2.7L 4cyl Toyota motor kicks ass.

We can't argue dismal Ranger sales, but what's the point about arguing about a non-existent v6 option for Ranger? If the v6 was an option I would choose that. It's the same premise why many Tacoma buyers opt for the v6 instead of the 4cyl. And it's stupid to say the Ford 4cyl is way better than the [put maker name here] 4 or 6cyl, because people are not buying for just the motor, they are buying brand/model/features/price!

 

[joeb427]

Offer the v6, I'd buy that over the wimpy 4cyl.

There would likely be way more Ranger sales if a v6 was available because many folks, like myself, don't need a F150 but would be happy with the motor the F150 offers.

And it's only a 2.7L v6, my Tacoma was a 4cyl 2.7L. A turbo'd 2.7L 4cyl Toyota motor kicks ass.

We can't argue dismal Ranger sales, but what's the point about arguing about a non-existent v6 option for Ranger? If the v6 was an option I would choose that. It's the same premise why many Tacoma buyers opt for the v6 instead of the 4cyl. And it's stupid to say the Ford 4cyl is way better than the [put maker name here] 4 or 6cyl, because people are not buying for just the motor, they are buying brand/model/features/price!

Chuck, the 2.3l 4 blows away the Tacoma V6 in acceleration and towing. I'd always like more power but the 2.3l is no slug.

 

[RedlandRanger]

Offer the v6, I'd buy that over the wimpy 4cyl.

There would likely be way more Ranger sales if a v6 was available because many folks, like myself, don't need a F150 but would be happy with the motor the F150 offers.

And it's only a 2.7L v6, my Tacoma was a 4cyl 2.7L. A turbo'd 2.7L 4cyl Toyota motor kicks ass.

We can't argue dismal Ranger sales, but what's the point about arguing about a non-existent v6 option for Ranger? If the v6 was an option I would choose that. It's the same premise why many Tacoma buyers opt for the v6 instead of the 4cyl. And it's stupid to say the Ford 4cyl is way better than the [put maker name here] 4 or 6cyl, because people are not buying for just the motor, they are buying brand/model/features/price!

You've OBVIOUSLY never driven the 2.3. If you had, wimpy would not be the word you would use. It kicks Toyota's 6 cylinder ass all the way across town.

Go test drive one and then come back and re-post. It may only be a 4 cyl, but it will surprise you.

 

[jsphlynch]

Why a complete new platform for Ranger just after a 2yr model run? The new Bronco platform must be way better to switch Ranger to it, and if its way better then why buy a 2019/2020 Ranger? Why not build the Bronco and the Ranger platform?

1) From a model year standpoint, it will actually be a 3-year run (2019, 2020, and 2021 on the current platform), though since the 2022s should hit lots in 2021, from a practical standpoint it'll be more like a 2 1/2 year run.
2) As has been repeatedly discussed on this site, the 2019 Ranger is not a truly new vehicle; it is an existing international vehicle that has been adapted to the US market. Thus a 2022 complete redesign would not end the 2-3 year model run, but a 10-year model run.
3) Yes, I expect the new Bronco platform to be better, but they don't build the Ranger on it yet because it is still under development. You can't build a truck on a platform that doesn't yet exist.
4) Why buy a 2019/2020 Ranger? Because it is a kick-ass vehicle that is available now! If we all wait until the end of 2021, we'll almost certainly be able to buy a better truck, but what do we do in the meantime? There is always a better option coming in the future, so if you're waiting for the best you'll never get there.

 

[Cape Cruiser]

Offer the v6, I'd buy that over the wimpy 4cyl.

There would likely be way more Ranger sales if a v6 was available because many folks, like myself, don't need a F150 but would be happy with the motor the F150 offers.

And it's only a 2.7L v6, my Tacoma was a 4cyl 2.7L. A turbo'd 2.7L 4cyl Toyota motor kicks ass.

We can't argue dismal Ranger sales, but what's the point about arguing about a non-existent v6 option for Ranger? If the v6 was an option I would choose that. It's the same premise why many Tacoma buyers opt for the v6 instead of the 4cyl. And it's stupid to say the Ford 4cyl is way better than the [put maker name here] 4 or 6cyl, because people are not buying for just the motor, they are buying brand/model/features/price!

I doubt you have ever driven the new Ranger saying "wimpy 4cyl". I currently have a 17 Taco (v6) and 19 Ranger and though I like both trucks they both have good features but sorry the Ranger will smoke the Taco in power and drive train. Not to mention seat comfort and some other great features. The Ranger has 40 more ftlbs of torque at a monumental 1600 rpm lower torque curve. Enjoy the forum.

 

[chuck stein]

You've OBVIOUSLY never driven the 2.3. If you had, wimpy would not be the word you would use. It kicks Toyota's 6 cylinder ass all the way across town.

Go test drive one and then come back and re-post. It may only be a 4 cyl, but it will surprise you.

I anticipated this type of reply.

The v6 is more powerful than the 4, yes?
I have a 4cyl turbo in my garage, it's not a Ranger though but has similar 4 banger turbo power #'s and weighs 300lbs less. I not that impressed, hence why I would buy the v6 if it were an option. I am sure many prospect Ranger buyers would buy the v6 if it were an option. Most here already own a Ranger, thus a 4 banger.

Edge ST, Ford's 2.7-liter makes 335 hp and 380 lb-ft of torque, while it offers 325 hp and 400 lb-ft of torque in the F-150

If the 2.7 v6 was available, I would buy the v6 option. I would take the 400lb-ft v6 option w/o regard to the wimpy 4cyl.

But I still don't really understand the question. 2020 Ranger does not appear to have a v6 option.

Ranger and Bronco will essentially be the same vehicle wearing different skin. When this happens the v6 in some fashion will be available. Apparently Ford will make another yearly run on the current platform, so nothing new for Ranger until year model 2021.

https://www.roadandtrack.com/new-cars/future-cars/a31079/new-ford-bronco-ranger-details/

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