Friday, April 29, 2005

Ford Ranger


New Ford Ranger in Ireland and everywhere else but here.

As Ford is "freshening up" the current Ranger for 2006, one thing keeps screaming through my head; "Why no Crew Cab!" Ford has a perfectly good Ranger Crew Cab as seen in these pictures that is available in every market but Canada and the US. You can even buy this in Mexico!

The Ford Ranger at one time dominated small truck sales and now is losing market share. Here are a couple of reasons ;
No Crew Cab, Chevy(GMC & Isuzu), Dodge, Nissan and Toyota all sell crew cab versions of their small or mid-size trucks. Ford offeres us the Explorer Sport Trac. The Sport Trac is not a true pickup, and is priced well above most of the competition.
Not enough power, Ford's 4.0L V-6 puts out 210 hp, Chevy's I5 puts out 220 hp, Toyota's V-6 has 240 hp and Nissan blows them all away with 265 hp!

Take a look at these pictures of Rangers found in Ireland, notice the nicer grille and the CREW CAB!! Also in every market Ford offers a 2.5 L I-4 diesel and while diesels are not very popular here in the US, with the rising price of fuel, Ford may want to think about bringing this to the states. All the US manufacturers push diesels for their large pickups, why not the Ranger.

Ford, do something to save the Ranger and the company. Fix the Ranger, bring it back to it's place at the top of small/mid-size trucks.

2 comments:

1969 Ranchero said...

Well if they sold those in the US how well do you think that Elpolder Sport Trak would fare? I'd bet the reason is all about $$$.

Big Ford Fan said...

Hi Eric, yeah it is all about the money, but I know the Sport Trac is not selling well, never did really, so why not bolster the sale of the Ranger, which was the best selling small truck in the US.

The fullsize Ford F series truck holds the distinction of being the best selling vehicle in the world.
Not the US, but the world. The Ranger should be the best selling small truck in the world. God knows it's sold on every continent.