02-27-2015, 10:33 AM | #1 |
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Is Ford bringing back the Ranger Pickup?
I'll be the first to admit that I have not kept up on Ford's future product plans but when I saw a pickup that I didn't recognize and it had a Michigan Manufacturer's Plate I figured it was worth taking a picture.
The truck was clearly smaller than the new F150 but it was quite a bit bigger than the old Ford Ranger truck. The size and styling of the truck was very close to the existing Toyota Tacoma model. The picture was taken in Surprise, AZ and Ford has a Proving Grounds nearby. |
02-27-2015, 10:40 AM | #2 |
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Here's a picture from the back of the Ford Ranger:
The badging on the right front fender indicated the vehicle was equipped with a 2.2 Liter Six Cylinder Engine with an Automatic Transmission. I remember when a 2.2 Liter displacement was considered small for a four cylinder - I'm guessing the pistons must be really small on a 2.2 Liter Six Cylinder engine. |
02-27-2015, 11:36 AM | #3 |
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You should sell those pictures to Automotive News or Motor trend.
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02-27-2015, 04:42 PM | #4 |
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02-28-2015, 05:51 PM | #5 |
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It's a good looking truck. Can't quite figure out why everyone abandoned the midsize truck market, but GM is back and now Ford looks to be as well. Too bad FCA doesn't have any midsize truck plans for now.
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03-01-2015, 05:50 AM | #6 |
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My understanding is that the truck is built somewhere in Europe and if imported to the US Ford would be required to pay the 25% Chicken Tax on it.
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03-01-2015, 09:06 AM | #7 | |
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I haven't heard about the Chicken Tax for years. I remember when I was a kid and I was living in the Seattle area I'd always marvel at all of the small Toyota or Datsun pickups that were being offloaded from the ships at the Port of Seattle. The pickups were shipped as cab and chassis vehicles and another shipment included the pickup beds. The beds were added to the cab and chassis by a vendor in Seattle and the OEM could claim the vehicles were "assembled" in the USA and avoid the Chicken Tax. At some point I'm guessing the loophole was closed because the pickups being offloaded eventually were fully assembled with the bed attached. |
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03-01-2015, 03:44 PM | #8 |
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I don't know a huge amount about these trucks, but it is my understanding that the Ranger pictured above is Ford's global truck. It is sold almost everywhere except the United States. The Ford Ranger fans on the Ford forum I belong to really wanted Ford to sell it here with the F-150, but Ford doesn't think it is a good idea. Apparently, this Ranger is 7/8ths the size of the F-150 and Dearborn doesn't think there is any point selling it here. GM took the risk with its global (7/8ths size) pickup truck - Chevy Colorado and GMC Canyon, but Ford doesn't see the value with such a move.
So, that is what is pictured. A Ford Ranger that is Ford's global pickup truck. I believe it is made in Thailand, somewhere in Europe, and possibly in Central/S. America as well. Here is the address to Ford's global website: http://corporate.ford.com/global-links.html#s3f3 I took a quick look at the Ford Australia, Ford Brazil, Ford Ghana, Ford Mexico, and Ford Germany websites and the Ranger is in all of them. Not a bad looking truck either - and apparently a top-notch truck in those regions. |
03-01-2015, 07:31 PM | #9 | |
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I'm sure Ford does the same with the Transit as well... |
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03-02-2015, 11:39 AM | #10 | |
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It's not uncommon to see a Ford vehicle with a Michigan Manufacturer's Plate in the area due to the proximity of Ford's Proving Grounds but in almost every other case the vehicle is painted to make it difficult to photograph or it's covered with cladding. In the case of the Ford Ranger I spotted, it appeared more like it was just a vehicle that was available for the Intern to go to Burger King and buy lunch for the engineers who were still working at the Proving Grounds. I have mixed thoughts on the whole 7/8ths truck concept - to me I think the new Chevy Colorado is too big and expensive and GM would be better off building a smaller/cheaper truck and tap a segment of the market that's been mostly abandoned. Based on your comments, it appears the brass in Dearborn thinks the same thing - they're just not looking to build a smaller truck. |
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03-03-2015, 12:41 PM | #11 |
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03-04-2015, 08:14 AM | #12 |
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I'll admit that when I first saw the truck and had a chance to photograph it I thought I may have stumbled across something that was pretty cool. It was only after I did the Google Search that I figured out why the truck didn't have any cladding. AR2's post then put everything into perspective.
As for a new revenue stream, I think selling spy photos would qualify as the forum's only revenue stream.... |
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