Ford will not sell global Ford Ranger in United States

November 7, 8:23 PMSF Autos ExaminerMichael Sheena

Previous Next

6 comments Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the SF Autos Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

Ford Ranger in Thailand  is living like a rock star! (source: ford apa)

Meanwhile the US Ford Ranger gets a white background for its beauty shots (source: ford)

My brother-in-law will be crushed, Ford CEO Alan Mulally has told the industry trade publication Automotive News that the United States will not be getting the Australian developed "global" T6 Ranger when the current Ranger sold here in the States finally heads to the glue factory.

Could there be a conspiracy within Ford to favor international versions of the Ranger?  Probably not, but let's say there is a conspiracy and have some fun in the slideshow below.

Currently, the ancient (but lovable) Ranger sold in the United States is not related to the Ranger you can buy elsewhere in the world.   Many websites, including the highly regarded PickupTrucks.com have speculated that the forthcoming Australian design T6 Ranger would be a strong possibility for the USA.  Given the "One Ford" strategy, it would only make sense that one version of the Ranger be designed for sale around the world instead of unique versions sold in certain markets. 

Mulally's did not say what Ford's US Ranger plans are for the future, but it seems hard to believe that the Blue Oval will give up the Ranger legacy. Ranger owners are loyal and their pickups take on family member status.  You cannot buy that kind of car/owner relationship and to simply walk away from it would be foolish.  So far Mulally and his team have not given us any reason to believe that they are foolish, so what gives?

Back when the Ford F-100 project was in full swing, there was speculation that the sub-F-150 model would supplant the Ranger, but when the F-100 got the axe so did this Ranger replacement theory. 

It is unclear, since Automotive News does not provide a direct quote, exactly what Mulally meant when he said the US will not get the global Ranger.  Does he simply mean that we will get an exact copy but in fact a semi-unique variant or does he truly mean no T6 whatsoever.  Seeing as how I do not have Alan on my speed dial, I cannot give him a call to clarify.

The US Ranger rang up 3,910 sales in October 2009, a 0.5 percent increase from 3,891 in October 2008.

Mulally also told Automotive News that the Ka will not be sold in the States either.

Please note:  While this article refers to the forthcoming, T6 Ranger, the international model shown in this article is the Thailand Ford Ranger. 

Update:  Mike Levine over at PickupTrucks.com is saying that the F-100 isn't as dead as we thought it was and that Ford is considering making the F-100 a Ranger replacement. That would make the next US truck bigger than the T6 being prepped for global sale.  Mike is okay with this, but my concern is that the truck doesn't get too big, we don't need to supersize everything.