Ranger Rescue

[FordBuyer]

StarTribune - Ford may review truck plant closure plans, Coleman says

 

U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman (Minn. R.) talked with company officials in Detroit, and said that, while the plan to shutter the St. Paul plant is still a go, the carmaker plans to take a look at all its operations in light of a changing market.

 

By KEVIN DIAZ, Star Tribune

Last update: June 6, 2008 - 11:14 PM

 

 

 

Maybe I'm an idiot, but how could Ford seriously end a compact truck when so many are snapping up its compact car in this high fuel price environment? Am I missing something here? And wait for years for India, Australia, Brazil, or wherever to import maybe 50,000 of them into U.S.

 

How about Ford investing a billion or so and put new 2.5L I4 into Ranger with new 6 speed trans, side airbags, and offer Crewcab model, and put electric steering into it and pull 27mpg highway out of it. Keep it same size with just a few exterior tweaks to keep refresh costs down. Just make it a modestly extensive refresh with drivetrain for better mpg and power. I don't see why Ford couldn't sell 200,000/year in this environment. Take advantage of what you have. No one else has compact truck on market and Ford would have market all to its self for years. They have the plant and truck now. It just needs a refresh and Crewcab and this truck could sell well everytime fuel spikes up. Fuel prices have been spiking up every summer since end of Clinton Administration.

 

Either I'm an idiot, or this is a no brainer. This market needs a good high mileage pickup truck NOW. The Ranger is not that far from being one and Ford has the drivetrain for it sitting in the new Escape.

[jpd80]

makes you think the F100 is coming for MY 2010.

[Blueblood]

Ford needs an all new Ranger.

 

A friend of mine just bought a Tacoma, I tried to get him to buy American but what could I say? Buy a Ranger that hasn't been updated in 15 years?

[jpd80]

No body is rushing out to the Ranger, sales are down to 7,239 (9,608) a drop of 24.7% .

At that level, it's easier make an F 100 the same size or import the Global Ranger from a FTA country.

[BORG]

No body is rushing out to the Ranger, sales are down to 7,239 (9,608) a drop of 24.7% .

At that level, it's easier make an F 100 the same size or import the Global Ranger from a FTA country.

 

The I4 Ranger is extremely undesirable and that's the only fuel effecient variant.

[mrjones944]

Would you buy a 15 year old brand new truck??

 

 

 

Ford needs an all new Ranger.

 

A friend of mine just bought a Tacoma, I tried to get him to buy American but what could I say? Buy a Ranger that hasn't been updated in 15 years?

[ice-capades]

As someone responsible for ordering my Dealership's inventory from Ford, I'll add a few thoughts to the Ranger discussion here.

 

Yes, Ranger sales have been dropping for some time now but I hate the thought of Ford dropping the only compact pickup left in the Market. Every time Ford discontinues a vehicle line we lose those customers to another brand and may never get them back into the Ford family. A good part of Toyota's success has been because the Big 3 domestic manufacturers literally handed them the market share. Every time Ford discontinues/abandons a market segment the imports and/or Toyota jump right in with a model to fill the gap left in Ford's or the Big 3's product line. FYI... I'm using the "Big 3" term here as a reference to the traditional "Big 3" being GM, Ford & Chrysler. For example... Ford replaced the Tempo with the Contour and then dropped the Contour with no new vehicle in that segment at the same time that Ford was in the early stages of letting the Taurus languish in the Market with no significant updates. Along the way, Toyota redesigned their Camry series but also quickly added the 2-door Camry (Solaris) & Solaris convertible models. Ford's management in Dearborn literally didn't care because they were making so much profit on trucks and SUV's. It doesn't take long for anyone in this business to realize that the entire industry runs in cycles as to Market demands, etc. Unfortunately, it's only in the past couple of years that the Big 3 have woken up to the long term and permanent changes happening in the Market.

 

The Ranger still fills a need in the Market. This is not to say that it has been long overlooked for an investment in a new, updated design and more fuel effiecient powertrain. As long as Ford can produce the Ranger and break even on lower volume until a new Ranger can be brought to Market, the Company has nothing to lose and can use the time to cover the subcompact pickup segment and keep the customers in the Ford family. An all-new 4-Door Ranger SuperCrew would be a big improvement.

 

The long and the short is that I'd like to see Ford continue producing the Ranger until an all-new Ranger can be introduced to meet the current and anticipated future Market demands.

[RichardJensen]

compact truck sales ain't exactly setting the world on fire either.

[FordBuyer]

As someone responsible for ordering my Dealership's inventory from Ford, I'll add a few thoughts to the Ranger discussion here.

 

Yes, Ranger sales have been dropping for some time now but I hate the thought of Ford dropping the only compact pickup left in the Market. Every time Ford discontinues a vehicle line we lose those customers to another brand and may never get them back into the Ford family. A good part of Toyota's success has been because the Big 3 domestic manufacturers literally handed them the market share. Every time Ford discontinues/abandons a market segment the imports and/or Toyota jump right in with a model to fill the gap left in Ford's or the Big 3's product line. FYI... I'm using the "Big 3" term here as a reference to the traditional "Big 3" being GM, Ford & Chrysler. For example... Ford replaced the Tempo with the Contour and then dropped the Contour with no new vehicle in that segment at the same time that Ford was in the early stages of letting the Taurus languish in the Market with no significant updates. Along the way, Toyota redesigned their Camry series but also quickly added the 2-door Camry (Solaris) & Solaris convertible models. Ford's management in Dearborn literally didn't care because they were making so much profit on trucks and SUV's. It doesn't take long for anyone in this business to realize that the entire industry runs in cycles as to Market demands, etc. Unfortunately, it's only in the past couple of years that the Big 3 have woken up to the long term and permanent changes happening in the Market.

 

The Ranger still fills a need in the Market. This is not to say that it has been long overlooked for an investment in a new, updated design and more fuel effiecient powertrain. As long as Ford can produce the Ranger and break even on lower volume until a new Ranger can be brought to Market, the Company has nothing to lose and can use the time to cover the subcompact pickup segment and keep the customers in the Ford family. An all-new 4-Door Ranger SuperCrew would be a big improvement.

 

The long and the short is that I'd like to see Ford continue producing the Ranger until an all-new Ranger can be introduced to meet the current and anticipated future Market demands.

 

This was exactly my point in starting this thread. Looks like Ford is at least giving pause to this consideration. The compact truck market is looking viable again. The Transit Connect is a compact van. Not everyone wants full size pickup, and no one but Ford at the moment has a compact pickup. Nissan, Toyota, Dodge, GM all make more mid sized pickups. I still think the new 2.5L I4 with 6 speed auto and electric steering would be perfect fit for a refreshed Ranger. The Ranger should be built here, not Overseas. You can feel the pressure building on Ford and GM especially with auto union upset that they gave and Ford and GM want to give nothing back.

 

Im already unhappy that Ford is going to pay even less to Fiesta workers than norm they pay Fusion workers, and ending American built compact truck in midst of small vehicle sales rebirth is doubly hard to take. If I were UAW, I would be mighty pissed. Ford has made a lot of outrageous moves in past, but IMO ending compact pickup production with no replacement in sight during time of small vehicle rebirth is most outrageous move Ford has ever made and that is saying a lot. You can't abandon a segment and then three years later enter it again and expect to pick up where you left off. Ford found that out with the Fusion. It's taken three long years for Ford to get Fusion sales up to at least medium volume numbers about half of what previous Taurus had. Ranger is good for at least 150,000 sales volume now if Ford gave Ranger some decent attention and marketed it with new drivetrain and Crewcab model.

 

Ford cannot continue to throw sales away and expect to prosper. The Ford brand is littered with vehicle badges thrown into trash heap....Thunderbird, Windstar, previous Taurus, Tempo, Contour, Escort, Bronco, Bronco ll, Fiesta, Aspire, and probably now Ranger. The Ranger as it stands now is not very competitive, but with new I4, 6 speed auto, and Crewcab would be very competitive and perfect for this market.

 

In my view, many will not buy new F-150 no matter what becase of high fuel prices, but they probably would consider updated Ranger with good fuel mileage and smaller footprint for their carport or smallish garage. By ending Ranger, Ford is basically telling hundreds of thousands of potential customers to take their business elsewhere. I find that unaccpetable.

[matthewq4b]

As someone responsible for ordering my Dealership's inventory from Ford, I'll add a few thoughts to the Ranger discussion here.

 

Yes, Ranger sales have been dropping for some time now but I hate the thought of Ford dropping the only compact pickup left in the Market. Every time Ford discontinues a vehicle line we lose those customers to another brand and may never get them back into the Ford family. A good part of Toyota's success has been because the Big 3 domestic manufacturers literally handed them the market share. Every time Ford discontinues/abandons a market segment the imports and/or Toyota jump right in with a model to fill the gap left in Ford's or the Big 3's product line. FYI... I'm using the "Big 3" term here as a reference to the traditional "Big 3" being GM, Ford & Chrysler. For example... Ford replaced the Tempo with the Contour and then dropped the Contour with no new vehicle in that segment at the same time that Ford was in the early stages of letting the Taurus languish in the Market with no significant updates. Along the way, Toyota redesigned their Camry series but also quickly added the 2-door Camry (Solaris) & Solaris convertible models. Ford's management in Dearborn literally didn't care because they were making so much profit on trucks and SUV's. It doesn't take long for anyone in this business to realize that the entire industry runs in cycles as to Market demands, etc. Unfortunately, it's only in the past couple of years that the Big 3 have woken up to the long term and permanent changes happening in the Market.

 

The Ranger still fills a need in the Market. This is not to say that it has been long overlooked for an investment in a new, updated design and more fuel effiecient powertrain. As long as Ford can produce the Ranger and break even on lower volume until a new Ranger can be brought to Market, the Company has nothing to lose and can use the time to cover the subcompact pickup segment and keep the customers in the Ford family. An all-new 4-Door Ranger SuperCrew would be a big improvement.

 

The long and the short is that I'd like to see Ford continue producing the Ranger until an all-new Ranger can be introduced to meet the current and anticipated future Market demands.

 

 

I would have to agree on every thing said.

 

The ranger by no means a sales dog. It is out selling the Taurus the Taurus X and the Expedition. There is still enough of a market to justify keeping it around until either the F 100 or a replacement is ready. Ifit si cut those roughly 70K yearly sales will just go else where. And it may take years to get them back when the replacement is ready. Certainly the aged platform and styling is hurting sales no questions there. But cutting it could be a collosal mistake. Better to keep the plant humming along as long they are not loosing wads of cash per unit.

 

 

If Ranger sales keep trending upwards Ford needs to seriously rethink shuttering the St Paul plant.

 

The Ranger is pretty much in a class by it's self and is in an enveibale position Ford just needs to update the damn vehicle. Apparently Ford still has not learned the lesson of letting established models languish between refreshes. The got burned with the Panthers with the the 300-Charger and got hosed with Taurus by the Camry (as was mentioned). Are they going to get burned with the Ranger as well ?

 

If Toyota jumps back in to the comapct P/U market (a distinc possibilty) the Ranger will be hosed and the replcment will have an uphill battle. Ford needs to Update them or get a replacment here pronto. Ford needs to keep the production continous unitl the replacment is here. Right now the best option is a mild refesh a new front clip and reworked interior. That will do nothing but push sales upwards in the interm.

 

Matthew

[snooter]

all i can add is "told you so",,funny how things come back 360 degrees

[Blue II]

makes you think the F100 is coming for MY 2010.

 

Would you like a 3.5 EB and IRS fron the Expy?

[silvrsvt]

Would you like a 3.5 EB and IRS fron the Expy?

 

I can see it now....the damn F-100 has an IRS, but I still can't get one on a Mustang! :P

[jpd80]

Would you like a 3.5 EB and IRS fron the Expy?

Thanks Blue II, am trying to find out more about out T6 project but the boys have closed ranks at Geelong.

T6 sounds very similar to F150 but will compete with Global Hilux, has smaller fuel efficient gas and diesel engines.

[Cougarpower]

Ford needs to keep the ranger until the new one is ready, hell if the ranger is competing against tehe colorado, frontier and even the tacoma just go to the sales chart and we can see that the ranger is only behind the tacoma and its outselling the other ones and they shouldnt and cannot give to the others a piece of the pie

[timmm55]

Ford needs to keep the ranger until the new one is ready.....

 

BINGO!

[armadamaster]

StarTribune - Ford may review truck plant closure plans, Coleman says

 

U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman (Minn. R.) talked with company officials in Detroit, and said that, while the plan to shutter the St. Paul plant is still a go, the carmaker plans to take a look at all its operations in light of a changing market.

 

By KEVIN DIAZ, Star Tribune

Last update: June 6, 2008 - 11:14 PM

 

 

 

Maybe I'm an idiot, but how could Ford seriously end a compact truck when so many are snapping up its compact car in this high fuel price environment? Am I missing something here? And wait for years for India, Australia, Brazil, or wherever to import maybe 50,000 of them into U.S.

 

How about Ford investing a billion or so and put new 2.5L I4 into Ranger with new 6 speed trans, side airbags, and offer Crewcab model, and put electric steering into it and pull 27mpg highway out of it. Keep it same size with just a few exterior tweaks to keep refresh costs down. Just make it a modestly extensive refresh with drivetrain for better mpg and power. I don't see why Ford couldn't sell 200,000/year in this environment. Take advantage of what you have. No one else has compact truck on market and Ford would have market all to its self for years. They have the plant and truck now. It just needs a refresh and Crewcab and this truck could sell well everytime fuel spikes up. Fuel prices have been spiking up every summer since end of Clinton Administration.

 

Either I'm an idiot, or this is a no brainer. This market needs a good high mileage pickup truck NOW. The Ranger is not that far from being one and Ford has the drivetrain for it sitting in the new Escape.

 

 

Simple answer to a complex question, because that makes too much sense....for Ford to comprehend anyway.

 

compact truck sales ain't exactly setting the world on fire either.

 

Three part answer:

 

1. What compact truck lineup are you referring to? The Ranger is it.

 

2. If compact-midsize truck sales aren't setting the world on fire the where's the logic in a new F-100 that does the job the F-150 used to do and should still be doing.

 

3. And if compact-midsize truck sales aren't setting the world on fire then there's the business case for simply updating the current Ranger.

 

I would have to agree on every thing said.

 

The ranger by no means a sales dog. It is out selling the Taurus the Taurus X and the Expedition. There is still enough of a market to justify keeping it around until either the F 100 or a replacement is ready. Ifit si cut those roughly 70K yearly sales will just go else where. And it may take years to get them back when the replacement is ready. Certainly the aged platform and styling is hurting sales no questions there. But cutting it could be a collosal mistake. Better to keep the plant humming along as long they are not loosing wads of cash per unit.

 

 

If Ranger sales keep trending upwards Ford needs to seriously rethink shuttering the St Paul plant.

 

The Ranger is pretty much in a class by it's self and is in an enveibale position Ford just needs to update the damn vehicle. Apparently Ford still has not learned the lesson of letting established models languish between refreshes. The got burned with the Panthers with the the 300-Charger and got hosed with Taurus by the Camry (as was mentioned). Are they going to get burned with the Ranger as well ?

 

If Toyota jumps back in to the comapct P/U market (a distinc possibilty) the Ranger will be hosed and the replcment will have an uphill battle. Ford needs to Update them or get a replacment here pronto. Ford needs to keep the production continous unitl the replacment is here. Right now the best option is a mild refesh a new front clip and reworked interior. That will do nothing but push sales upwards in the interm.

 

Matthew

 

Great post Matthew and right on the money.

Edited June 9, 2008 by Armada Master

[ANTAUS]

Isn't the reason that Ford is phasing the Ranger out before the replacement is ready because it doesn't meet federal side crash standards for 2011/12 ??

[P71_CrownVic]

Isn't the reason that Ford is phasing the Ranger out before the replacement is ready because it doesn't meet federal side crash standards for 2011/12 ??

 

Ok, so dump the boat anchor engines that are in it now, replace them with the 2.5 and 3.5 coupled with a six-speed, advertise the hell out of it, and RAKE in the money until 2011/2012.

 

Again, Ford is being lazy, and clearly doesn't want to make money.

[kenp77]

Would you like a 3.5 EB and IRS fron the Expy?

That is exactly what I would like to down size too are u giving us a hint :happy feet:

[Sporko]

Canada is ahead of the U.S. on the gas price curve, much the same way that Europe is ahead of Canada. Small fuel efficient cars are already the norm whereas the reality of modern fuel efficiency is just starting to reach the American consciousness. Even though Ranger sales have been falling in the U.S. it wouldn't surprise me if there was a sales renaissance because of the new fuel price reality. Check out how the Ranger does against it's competitors in Canada:

 

April Sales

Ranger 2762

Mazda B series 384

Tacoma 947

Frontier 182

Colorado 494

Canyon 431

Dakota 895

[NLPRacing]

Would you like a 3.5 EB and IRS fron the Expy?

 

Yes I would, when can I buy one!

[old_fairmont_wagon]

IMHO, the GM Colorado/Canyon are more to the compact pickup side of things than the rest of the mid sizers. They aren't as large as comparable Frontier, Tacoma and Dakota models, and tend to be a bit lighter as well.

[goinbroke2]

Canada is ahead of the U.S. on the gas price curve, much the same way that Europe is ahead of Canada. Small fuel efficient cars are already the norm whereas the reality of modern fuel efficiency is just starting to reach the American consciousness. Even though Ranger sales have been falling in the U.S. it wouldn't surprise me if there was a sales renaissance because of the new fuel price reality. Check out how the Ranger does against it's competitors in Canada:

 

April Sales

Ranger 2762

Mazda B series 384

Tacoma 947

Frontier 182

Colorado 494

Canyon 431

Dakota 895

 

I've never looked at the sales figures, but obviously that is why all you see around here are rangers. (4 in my shop alone)

#1 is ranger 7 out of 10

#2 is colorado 2 out of 10

#3 everything else 1 out of 10

 

Last night going home saw 4 new rangers with signs/cones etc in the back doing highway construction. Looked weird not seeing 1/2 tons.

[NickF1011]

Ok, so dump the boat anchor engines that are in it now, replace them with the 2.5 and 3.5 coupled with a six-speed, advertise the hell out of it, and RAKE in the money until 2011/2012.

 

Again, Ford is being lazy, and clearly doesn't want to make money.

 

Yeah, because putting in 2 new engines and new transmissions will cost them nothing. It's a freebie! :rolleyes:

 

I can't blame Ford one iota for not wanting to spend a dime upgrading the Ranger before its replacement is here. There's simply no way in hell it would raise sales enough to recoup R&D costs in time. Several years ago it may have been worthwhile, but this close to the end of the product cycle would be a complete waste of time and money.