Ford Ranger Discontinued Dec. 2011...
 

http://theblogofcars.com/2010/09/for...ses-new-model/

Ford has announced that they will discontinue the US-spec Ranger in 2011, while also releasing a teaser of a new Ranger for the rest of the world.

The Ranger’s death in the US is due to a number of reasons. Firstly, the new car is too close in size to the F-150, and Ford believes that most American customers will choose to spend a little more money for the larger car. You may think that they should’ve just taken the F-150 global and did away with the Ranger everywhere in that case, but Derrick Kuzak, Ford’s Vice President of Global Product Development, said “That ten-percent size difference does make a difference. Right-hand drive is required in the rest of the world and other regulations, both safety and emissions, impacted that decision.”

Secondly, the compact truck segment has been declining in America over the past several years. In 1994, it made up eight percent of the industry, but now, it stands at just two percent. This hasn’t stopped the Ranger from selling very well though, with around 75,000 units sold a year. However, Ford has conducted research which tells them that the Ranger is bought mainly by people looking for the cheapest, most economical Ford. With the recent arrival of the cheaper Fiesta though, Ranger sales will likely plummet, and for those still looking for a compact work truck, the Transit Connect is available.

The last reason is the recent launch of the new, more efficient F-150 drivetrain options. While no fuel economy figures have yet been revealed, they will likely be much better than the 24.5 mpg the Ranger gets, while having much greater capabilities.

The Ranger will be missed, but we all saw its death coming many years ago, with its last significant upgrade done back in 1993. Let’s hope that Ford can make up for it elsewhere in the range.

As for the rest of the world, the picture at the top is a teaser for the new Ranger they’ll be getting. It has been designed in Australia, and will be revealed at the Australian International Motor Show in October.

Uh ya when will a fullsize truck get 25mpg or better? Still waiting on this one from factories...

Even the Chevy hybrid only maxes out at 21 or 22mpg.

In other words, Ford is canceling the ranger so they can start pushing the F150 as much as possible while "trying" to work on the fuel economy side of it. Screwing us and feeding the oil machine as much as possible in the process.

The Ranger line has pretty much been on life support here. Most of the pickup drivers here are either farmers, landscapers, construction workers, or people who plow driveways in the winter. A small truck just can't do all of that very well. I may get another truck at some point in order to plow my soon to be longer driveway and with hauling the sleds around and stuff a full size just plain works better.

They used to make small trucks that did a damn good job plowing small areas... My old man sold his plow business a number of years ago, but kept some of the driveways and small parking lots... Looked into buying a small truck and they all said you couldn't plow with it... Sucked, because he used to plow the shit out of everything with our old S10 Blazer.

This says it all. Even the Tacoma is way bigger than it used to be, for no reason. It's like they feel pressured to increase the size every generation, or else they won't have anything to brag about in their advertising.

Yep.

Compact cars and trucks both have grown dramatically over the last 20 years.

The new Tacoma ia almost as big as the original T100.

Dodge no longer has a mini truck, Isuzu doesn't exist, Mazda is out of the segment, The Mitsu is huge compared to the old Mighty Max, Toyota and Nissan both have "real" trucks now...

This shouldn't be a surprise to anybody.

5 years from now, someone will release a new small truck and kick the market's ass...

I'm partial to the Ranger because it was the perfect size for life around here. When I think of (personal) pickups i think of Rangers, older Tacoma's, Nissans and even the original Dakota's. Full size trucks were for contractors.

I'm not going to pretend that rangers were great trucks. Just that I prefer the size.

If only they offered the Transit connect with an extended cargo area and a stick.
Those little fuggers are awesome.

I wish my Tacoma was smaller, definitely feels like a full size with a lot less power.

Didn't they announce this like a year ago?
Anyway, it still sucks. The Ranger actually turned out to be a damn good work truck for my customer in their engineering pool. They outlasted Dakotas by years, and are actually looking to be holding up as well (or slightly better) than the Colorado's we have (so far).