[Outahere]

The Ridgeline might have some competition from the Ford Ranger in 2018:

http://www.autonews.com/article/201...in-talks-to-revive-ranger-sales-output-in-u-s

"...Ford Motor Co. is in discussions with the UAW about bringing the Ranger midsize pickup back to the U.S. market, a person with knowledge of the talks said late Tuesday…"

...Ford’s truck group marketing manager, Doug Scott, told USA Today last year that Ford was considering bringing a smaller pickup back to the U.S. but that its price and size would need to be different enough from the F-150 to make it worthwhile.

"We're looking at it,” Scott told the paper. “We think we could sell a compact truck that's more like the size of the old Ranger, that gets six or eight more miles per gallon [than a full-size truck], is $5,000 or $6,000 less, and that we could build in the U.S. to avoid the tariff on imported trucks.”...

 

[longboat]

That's funny, since they are somewhat responsible for the tariff. I'd imagine they'd make a profit by importing without the tariff, but would lose too much to the competition in the long run, especially if foreign makes decided to make a run a full-size trucks. Or maybe the holdup is with UAW?

 

[AG87BlkLX]

Talks of bringing the Bronco back too, interesting.

"A rugged midsize SUV would allow Ford to more directly challenge Jeep, whose sales have been soaring. Ford converted the Explorer to a unibody architecture in 2010, a move that has quadrupled sales of that vehicle since, but hindered its ability to attract buyers who actually want to drive off-road."

Hopefully my 06 RL with 226K miles will keep running for a few more years. Looks like some interesting options coming in the near future.

 

[No2rdame]

I wonder what the Ranger's actual price range will be. I know the article says $5-6k, but the F-150 is all over the board with prices. Also, is it really a true Bronco if it's a mid-sized vehicle? Just curious. I've always wanted the Bronco to return, but my guess is that it will be nothing like the ones I fell in love with. If it's another oversized soccer mommy station wagon then no thank you.

 

[eurban]

Article also states it would likely be the size of the Old Ranger. Not quite sure that a compact pickup is really in direct completion with the Ridgeline which is sized between mid size and full.

 

[Dnick]

Article also states it would likely be the size of the Old Ranger. Not quite sure that a compact pickup is really in direct completion with the Ridgeline which is sized between mid size and full.

Maybe not... but I bet they pick up a LOT of business that has been vacated by the constant "bigger & bigger" trend for all the other models.... even Tacoma.

They should pretty much have it all to themselves!

 

[cccbock]

Maybe not... but I bet they pick up a LOT of business that has been vacated by the constant "bigger & bigger" trend for all the other models.... even Tacoma.

They should pretty much have it all to themselves!

I suppose there is a significant market for "small" economy trucks. I owned a (POS) Ranger entry level model and I would not own another if it were kept the same size range as the prior model. They could fancy it up all they want. Not for me.

I would however put it on the list of possibles if it were bumped up into RL size range and given similar amenities. I think Ford quality is a wee bit better than GM and hopefully it would trickle down to the Ranger.

 

[longboat]

I would be one of the first to buy a compact truck, if it were made by Toyota or Honda. I just don't trust Ford to do it right. C'mon Honda, give us an HRV - BASED Ridgeline II...

 

[Parsec]

Talks of bringing the Bronco back too, interesting.

"A rugged midsize SUV would allow Ford to more directly challenge Jeep, whose sales have been soaring. Ford converted the Explorer to a unibody architecture in 2010, a move that has quadrupled sales of that vehicle since, but hindered its ability to attract buyers who actually want to drive off-road."

Hopefully my 06 RL with 226K miles will keep running for a few more years. Looks like some interesting options coming in the near future.

They're bringing the Bronco back for real or are these from the rumors that started w/the April Fools joke?

 

[AG87BlkLX]

They're bringing the Bronco back for real or are these from the rumors that started w/the April Fools joke?

The article looks real this time.

It will be interesting to see what size the Bronco is. Will Ford make it like the original Bronco or like the full size Bronco? I would like to see it the size of the 4Runner & Cherokee. I would also like to see a removable top. I expect good off-road ability is one aspect the Bronco would target since Ford has the Explorer.

 

[zroger73]

I would be one of the first to buy a compact truck, if it were made by Toyota or Honda. I just don't trust Ford to do it right. C'mon Honda, give us an HRV - BASED Ridgeline II...

Though unrefined and underpowered, the late Ranger was very durable and reliable mechanically. One of the more common and costly to repair items was the blend door actuator. When it fails, you lose temperature control. Depending on where it was when it failed, you may lose heating and/or cooling. The entire dash had to come out to replace this relatively inexpensive and under-engineered part.

 

[rollinhonda]

The earlier Rangers were a relatively simple vehicle, similar to the earlier Toys and Datsuns. Reintroduced today it would not be as simple, and though Ford is not 'that bad' in terms of reliability I still think they have a ways to go.
The Sport Trac was closer in concept IMO to the Ridgeline. But had some issues to overcome with each new model year. Nowhere as reliable as the Ranger.
Something like this might put the Ridgeline on the map more permanently. But I would not hold my breath for it to happen.

http://www.ct-engineering.com/Produ...ordSuperchargerPackage/tabid/961/Default.aspx

 

[martyn1075]

The earlier Rangers were a relatively simple vehicle, similar to the earlier Toys and Datsuns. Reintroduced today it would not be as simple, and though Ford is not 'that bad' in terms of reliability I still think they have a ways to go.
The Sport Trac was closer in concept IMO to the Ridgeline. But had some issues to overcome with each new model year. Nowhere as reliable as the Ranger.
Something like this might put the Ridgeline on the map more permanently. But I would not hold my breath for it to happen.

http://www.ct-engineering.com/Produ...ordSuperchargerPackage/tabid/961/Default.aspx

Your right the Ranger was more of a compact style truck. Not very many compacts have strong numbers in the towing etc. Midsize took over the full size and now the full size are like mini commercial grade trucks and some of them being very luxurious and expensive.

 

[Sparkland]

The Ridgeline might have some competition from the Ford Ranger in 2018:

http://www.autonews.com/article/201...in-talks-to-revive-ranger-sales-output-in-u-s

"...Ford Motor Co. is in discussions with the UAW about bringing the Ranger midsize pickup back to the U.S. market, a person with knowledge of the talks said late Tuesday…"

...Ford’s truck group marketing manager, Doug Scott, told USA Today last year that Ford was considering bringing a smaller pickup back to the U.S. but that its price and size would need to be different enough from the F-150 to make it worthwhile.

"We're looking at it,” Scott told the paper. “We think we could sell a compact truck that's more like the size of the old Ranger, that gets six or eight more miles per gallon [than a full-size truck], is $5,000 or $6,000 less, and that we could build in the U.S. to avoid the tariff on imported trucks.”...

Seems crazy that Ford has to run this idea by the UAW. If I were Ford it would be build it or we will find non Union workers who would be glad to.


Sent from AutoGuide.com Free App

 

[Nutbread]

Seems crazy that Ford has to run this idea by the UAW. If I were Ford it would be build it or we will find non Union workers who would be glad to.


Sent from AutoGuide.com Free App

That jumped out at me too.

 

[Dnick]

Crazy BS world we live in today. Almost everything has an element of extortion behind it somewhere. Corruption, cronyism, and political "favors" (read arm twisting) up the wazoo. You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours.... and if you don't I'll stab you in the back instead.

Sort of like the old cold war Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) mentality; just scaled down a bit.

 

[rollinhonda]

It is unfortunate when we have to spend a lot of money on a car the caliber of the Tesla to find something unique, and sparked by American ingenuity.
Ironically, just the opposite of the Model T on the economic scale, but innovative and more 'American' than other cars on the road, nonetheless. I suppose the Corvette also fills that bill to a large extent.

 

[Outahere]

The new Ranger is more of a midsize truck, than a compact truck, say the folks at pickuptrucks.com, in an April 2015 article:

"... the new 2016 Ford Ranger seems to be both similar in size to some existing midsize pickups as well as too close in size to an F-150. Looking at the dimensions compared to the current Toyota Tacoma, we see the Ford Ranger is just a bit taller and longer while not quite as wide…"

"...Our guess is that Ford will only green-light a new U.S. Ranger if it could build it economically, make it on a smaller platform, give it much better fuel efficiency than the F-150, and offer it with a much lower price tag…"

"The F-Series works best for customers in North America. The all-new 2015 Ford F-150 with the 2.7-liter EcoBoost V-6 has better EPA-estimated fuel economy ratings than V-6-powered midsize pickups from Toyota and GM, as well as better payload and towing capability." [said Mike Levine, Ford truck communication manager]

http://news.pickuptrucks.com/2015/04/fords-2016-ford-ranger-will-not-come-to-us.html

 

[zroger73]

It is unfortunate when we have to spend a lot of money on a car the caliber of the Tesla to find something unique, and sparked by American ingenuity.
Ironically, just the opposite of the Model T on the economic scale, but innovative and more 'American' than other cars on the road, nonetheless. I suppose the Corvette also fills that bill to a large extent.

I'm almost willing to sell my house to buy a Tesla P90D.

 

[rollinhonda]

I'm almost willing to sell my house to buy a Tesla P90D.

I think they hit the ball out of the park!
Given time they might come out with lower priced vehicles based on same incredible engineering.

Have you seen their independent power centers for solar homes? The whole concept is awesome. So awesome it is doom to fail since it will rely on having cooperation among several industries to work on a large enough scale to significantly reduce the load on the power grid. I hope I am wrong and the vision can be shared.