Is it over for good or can Ford make lemonade out of lemons?
06-06-07: The Ford Ranger is on its deathbed. For a great many reasons, the ailing compact pickup has slowly been withering on the vine of Ford. Sales of the Ranger have been dropping each year since its last major redesign in 1993. It's one of Ford’s oldest and most antiquated products on the road. Manufacturers like Toyota, Nissan, Dodge and GM have all long since offered up newer designs that are larger, more powerful and offer more to buyers.
But all is not well in the compact truck segment. All of the above mentioned brands except Toyota have seen shrinking sales in their entry level trucks. A lot of the reason is simply that there is little price difference between a compact truck and a full size one. In most cases at a Ford dealership you can step into a larger, safer and more powerful F-150 with larger rebates for roughly the same price as a well equipped Ranger.
Fact is that despite the high gas prices that have been chasing people away from full size SUV’s and trucks, they aren’t going back to small trucks - especially the Ranger. Ford has at current made no announcements that there is a replacement for the Ranger. There is no Ranger production planned after the 2008 model year. This is in large part because the plant in which it's built in St. Paul, Minnesota is slated to close early next year.
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With Ford being in a position that they cant afford to design and launch a new product in a shrinking market, it seems unlikely that they will be redesigning an all new small truck platform just for our market. There has been talk about bringing in one of their Asian versions of the Ranger which are built around the world. However, there is little difference between that truck and what isn’t selling well here already. More importantly the import tariffs would kill any financial incentive to do so.
A recent Autoweek article suggested that they could take the current Explorer Sport-Trac and offer a more barebones truck version of that, but the Explorer itself is another aged white elephant with a questionable future. Even if this weren’t so, the cost of such a vehicle would not be at all where it needs to be for an entry level product. One good thing the Ranger has always provided for Ford is a well priced entry level product that first time buyers can afford and one that small businesses like couriers and exterminators can afford to operate.
It seems that Ford needs to look at something completely different. New car based SUV’s are taking over the market. Car based trucks on the wavelength of the Honda Ridgeline are very likely also the future of compact trucks. Perhaps Ford should look at their current line of small SUV’s and crossovers for the answer.
One idea might be to take the recently redesigned Ford Escape platform and spin off a small truck version. With far less investment than a stand alone product, Ford could craft a utility version of the popular SUV that would really offer a spread between it and a full size pickup both in price and in content. The existing platform offers both FWD and AWD. It has a healthy slate of proven four and six cylinder engines as well as a hybrid power train. Such a combination would be unique product that nobody else is currently offering in America.
The vehicle could be priced similar to or less than the current Ranger but offer far more in the way of efficiency, design content, handling, and modern conveniences. Different cab styles and wheelbases could be offered to meet varying needs. In the end the vehicle would again provide first time buyers with something that offers value. More importantly it would offer a myriad of businesses a small, inexpensive and efficient company car that can haul the short small loads that n F-150 is too much vehicle for.
While it would not be a mid-size truck which is where the majority of the market has gone, it would in the end offer a better separation across the product spectrum. Best yet it would be based on current hardware, to be built in current plants, and could be brought to market fast. Just a thought.
