There are times that a full size truck is just a bit too much. Somewhere between needing to haul tons of tools and cargo for work and having a trunk that’s really not much more than a place for the groceries, there’s a gap. That gap is filled with a small to mid-sized pickup truck. Handy, tight, and with full body on frame design, these little trucks are great toy haulers and around the house utility workhorses.
For a long time the small and mid-size truck market here in the states has been dominated by foreign competition. It wasn’t always that way. Once upon a time we had quite a few choices including a really cool Ford called the Ford Ranger. Well, once again, the American small truck market cup runneth over and the mid-size Ford Ranger is again on the production books for a global launch. Kind of.
Roomier design with a crew cab feature
Unlike the old Ford Ranger, the new design is bumping up a notch in size and is intended to be marketed as a mid-size truck. With that, this little workhorse is bringing some fresh design ideas to the foray with a roomy crew-cab design that promises to house piles of high tech goodies.
Capitalizing on the time honored, tried and true design, the truck is a solid body on full frame design that’s sure to deliver the legendary tough truck capacity Ford is known round the world for. Topping off the body boldness is a smart style featuring a handsome hex grille up front.
It’s a smart looking truck that’s feature rich and looks to be a boon for the small truck consumer.
Powertrain options
There are going to be three engine offers on the global model, and as usual, we should expect some powertrain tweaks if and when the truck hits the American market. As it sits there is a 3.2L diesel 5 cylinder slated to deliver a handy 347lb-ft torque to the wheels as well as a 4 cylinder 2.2L diesel and a 2.5L inline 4 gasoline engine.
Driveline configurations are expected to be 2×2 and 4×4 with the 4×4 utilizing an electronically controlled transfer case.
Tech
Among the electronic goodies the truck displayed at its debut at the Bangkok auto show, the truck features the now industry expected lane keep assist, adaptive radar cruise control, and the standard compliment of gadget connectivity like Bluetooth.
We can only speculate at this point, but it’s pretty certain that if the truck makes it to the American shores the latest version of MySync technology will also sit in the trucks dash mounted control center.
Availability
There are 180 global markets that expect to see the newly designed Ranger, unfortunately America isn’t one of them. But with the recent GM flavors of mid-size trucks in the Canyon and Colorado it could be that Ford is taking a wait and see attitude on sales numbers from GM before they release the Ranger to the states. While we can’t promise anything, we can certainly hope that one day the Ford Ranger will find its way to our showroom floor.
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