Donaldo Posted June 4, 2013 Share Posted June 4, 2013 Interesting note, maybe Ford's research was right after all to kill the Ranger in the US.... http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2013/06/04/ford-isnt-missing-the-ranger.aspx They'll give Toyota, Nissan, and Honda the scraps of the smaller pickup market left in exchange for more F-series. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickF1011 Posted June 4, 2013 Share Posted June 4, 2013 They'll give Toyota, Nissan, and Honda the scraps of the smaller pickup market left in exchange for more F-series. Wow. For a second there I had to pause and remember why you mentioned Honda. They still sell the Ridgeline...well...they try. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aneekr Posted June 4, 2013 Share Posted June 4, 2013 Interesting perspective. Impressively, last month Ford sold more than twice as many F-Series as all U.S. market compact/midsize trucks combined. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
97svtgoin05gt Posted June 4, 2013 Share Posted June 4, 2013 I still think there is a nice market for them in this, its just if the business case doesn't add up than why do it? I did hear a rumor lately though that they were going to start doing a small truck again. The pictures I saw looked more like a Colorado sized one than the old Ranger. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PRM Posted June 5, 2013 Share Posted June 5, 2013 I can only say that I would be a potential Ford customer in the very near future if they offered a smaller truck. From their perspective, it's hard to argue with the numbers though. I think it's difficult to speculate the impact of a Ranger on F150 sales, but what they are doing is working for now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrewfanGRB Posted June 5, 2013 Share Posted June 5, 2013 Interesting perspective. Impressively, last month Ford sold more than twice as many F-Series as all U.S. market compact/midsize trucks combined. Preposterous. It's been unequivocally insisted upon here many times that there are untold hundreds of thousands of people who simply do not want a full-size truck, especially an atrociously bloated monstrosity like the F-150, and will buy a small truck instead...thus, Ford is obviously missing out on sales. The fact the F-series itself outsells the ENTIRE market of small trucks just proves the market needs a good entry from Ford. Bottom line: The DATA (not feelings or nonsensical "I'd buy a Ranger if Ford made one" comments) proves the market for small trucks is small and getting smaller. Ford has bigger fish to fry and better ways to make additional profit than sinking money into a product to enter a shrinking market. (Example: Ford is better off sinking money (as they are doing) into the redesign and continual improvement of its class-crushing F-series that sold more units last MONTH than they could likely hope to sell of a small truck in a YEAR). Again: Ford exists for ONE REASON ONLY: To. Make. Money. That's it. You want a small truck? You want a RWD, over-priced luxury car? You want an ill-defined "halo" car. Go somewhere else and buy it. Ford's too busy counting the money from F-Series, Fusion, Escape and Explorer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bzcat Posted June 5, 2013 Share Posted June 5, 2013 Not to continue to pile on the Ranger fantasy brigade but I just want to point out that Nissan Frontier and Toyota Tacoma are both entering its 10th model year basically unchanged; and with no redesign imminent in the near future. Both are being "ranger-ed" right in front our eyes. If this segment is so lucrative and has so much potential, then why did the Toyota, the one with over 50% of the market share, decided to let it wither on a vine? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edstock Posted June 5, 2013 Share Posted June 5, 2013 Didn't VW have a FWD pickup they were going to build? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpd80 Posted June 5, 2013 Share Posted June 5, 2013 Didn't VW have a FWD pickup they were going to build? Amorok is another RWD mid sized truck.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpd80 Posted June 5, 2013 Share Posted June 5, 2013 (edited) 71,000 F truck sales last month, approximately two thirds (~48,000) of them are F150 Ranger is clearly in the "why would you even bother" pile at the moment... Edited June 5, 2013 by jpd80 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theoldwizard Posted June 6, 2013 Share Posted June 6, 2013 If Ford can really knock 700 lbs off of the next F150 and hold the price, they will sell a lot more. The current 2 door F150 3.7L already gets better fuel economy than the old Ranger V6. Minus 700 lbs, it could match the fuel economy pf the Ranger 2.3L automatic. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardJensen Posted June 6, 2013 Share Posted June 6, 2013 Minus 700lbs and a few square feet of front surface area if you're talking highway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpd80 Posted June 7, 2013 Share Posted June 7, 2013 Minus 700lbs and a few square feet of front surface area if you're talking highway. A single cab F150 would then roughly equal the weight of a double cab T6 Ranger. ...that's not a bad effort. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theoldwizard Posted June 7, 2013 Share Posted June 7, 2013 Minus 700lbs and a few square feet of front surface area if you're talking highway. Not a good idea and probably not legal, but the fastest way to reduce frontal area is to remove the side view mirror. Tests done many, MANY years ago by one of the car mags actually showed a difference in the "real world". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpd80 Posted June 7, 2013 Share Posted June 7, 2013 Not a good idea and probably not legal, but the fastest way to reduce frontal area is to remove the side view mirror. Tests done many, MANY years ago by one of the car mags actually showed a difference in the "real world". Shame Ford couldn't make a screen on the driver and passenger side glass that gives a rear view image. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2b2 Posted June 8, 2013 Share Posted June 8, 2013 Shame Ford couldn't make a screen on the driver and passenger side glass that gives a rear view image. considering how thick A-pillars have become . . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elkarlo Posted June 9, 2013 Share Posted June 9, 2013 yeah, it is a dying niche really. Why waste all that R&D on it. Tell you what, Alan knows what he is doing. He has dragged us kicking a screaming deep into the black Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpd80 Posted June 9, 2013 Share Posted June 9, 2013 (edited) yeah, it is a dying niche really. Why waste all that R&D on it. Tell you what, Alan knows what he is doing. He has dragged us kicking a screaming deep into the black Opportunity cost. No doubt there are buyers out there that Ford could sell a new Ranger too but could Ford put that money to much better use with increasing sales with other more profitable existing product in other segments........ I have a feeling that 100% commitment to a lighter more fuel efficient F150 will be far more beneficial to Ford by hopefully increasing F150 sales by a greater amount than adding Ranger to the showroom. Edited June 9, 2013 by jpd80 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ForgotMyUsrname Posted June 11, 2013 Share Posted June 11, 2013 Too bad the Ranger may not return, especially in BOF technology. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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