Last US Ford Ranger rolls off the assembly line.

[Christian P.]

Another sad day for us. I guess that means the end for Canada too.


more here

http://content.usatoday.com/communi...ls-off-assembly-line-next-week/1#.T0iE9CN5Ajc

Here's a history of the Ranger:

1965: Ranger name appears as a styling package for F-Series pickup trucks.
1967: Ranger stops being an option and becomes an upscale series.
1981: Plans for the all-new Ranger pickup are unveiled in Dearborn.
1982: First Ranger rolls off the assembly line in Louisville , Ky.
1998: A more environmentally friendly, electrically powered Ranger is offered. Within its driving range, the electric-powered Ranger performs identically to its internal combustion counterpart.
1999: Ford receives the largest-ever order for an electric vehicle in U.S. history in December 1999, when the United States Postal Service (USPS) orders 500 vehicles based on the electric-powered Ford Ranger compact pickup chassis for use as mail delivery vehicles.
2001: The "Rocket Ranger" sets the land speed record for pickups with a recorded speed of 205.208 miles per hour.

Past Ranger trim levels included Ranger S, XLS, Sport, XL Sport, Custom, STX, Splash, XL, XLT, EDGE, FX4 and Tremor.

Ranger lives on in overseas markets, where a new, redesigned one was recently introduced.

 

[TangoBlue]

So it stopped because the small truck segment was no longer hot and the competition...

From the looks of the export version and its available diesel power-plant, it seems that could have renewed interest in that product line. But what would I know, Joe consumer.

 

[mustangwarrior]

i would go out and buy a ranger with a 3 or 4cyl diesel anyday

 

[Mark Harley]

If ford kept up with what we want, I would be driving a crewcab ranger with a diesel.
Why can't the USA buyers get use to diesel powered small pick ups?

 

[Mark Harley]

I hope we get this one:

http://www.worldcarfans.com/109060519771/2012-next-gen-ford-ranger-double-cab-spied-in-the-alps

 

[Treenail]

If its going to stand up to its Aussie heritage they need to ditch the waste of metal on the back and make it a proper ute. Flatbeds give so much more useable space.

Oh...I forgot...so many Americans buy trucks as status symbols not work vehicles.

Tom

 

[BCHauler]

Unfortunately, the reasons are purely financial. The most profitable vehicles built are full-size pickups. Small truck sales are seen by the manufacturers as cannibalizing of full-size sales (ie. people who buy small trucks are people who would otherwise buy big trucks). Consumers have not shown themselves too keen on paying full size prices for compact trucks. There is little incentive to make small trucks more efficient, both for the reason listed and because the manufacturers are held to lower efficiency standards with bigger trucks. As well, if the compact gets better mileage, people like me might turn from the v10 monster I currently drive to a smaller (less profitable) truck.

The trick to getting better, smaller trucks will be to convincing one of the other companies (the Koreans, the Germans, heck even the Indians) that a smaller, capable, more efficient truck will sell enough for them to risk the commitment. Unfortunately, the common American attitude to "foreign" automakers, especially when it comes to trucks, isn't helping the cause.

 

[78Bronco]

I drove an FX4 for ten months and hated every minute. Gas mileage was worse than an F150 and if you are over six feet tall you did not fit. Glad too see it gone and I hope to see an F100 in the mid size truck segment soon.

 

[daly]

I'm with you. Not to mention its a 20yr old platform, It hasn't changed since its revamp in '93. Personally I think the ranger should've gone out with the S-10 in '04. With the fuel efficiency of full size trucks now a days, the small truck market is gone. Even the midsize market is going away, the Dakota is gone, and the Colorado and Canyon are on there way out.

 

[Quill]

I am a Ranger/ Bronco II fan. I am not real tall and the trucks suited my needs. I hate to see it go, but that is the way it happens. There wasn't much size difference in the finale Rangers and the F150, but the Ranger had smaller motors. Ford wants to sell F150s. Maybe the Ranger will come back later as a small truck or just special package on an F150.

 

[bftank]

ranger, bronco, excursion... all awesome all gone


what a sad world we live in.


i won't buy anything new from any manufacturer, until they start building stupid simple and reliable again.

 

[Nathant78]

I will miss the ranger. i had a 93 from 96-2006 then a 01 from 05 til last year.
only reason i traded in the last ranger which was 4x4 is because i wanted a 4dr for expedition use.

 

[mustangwarrior]

if gas prices keep going up, and they will, i don't see how it would be all that hard to sell a midsize 4x4 truck with a turbo 4 cyl diesel that gets 30 mpg, i'm sure all kinds of folks would want one

 

[mustangwarrior]

ranger, bronco, excursion... all awesome all gone


what a sad world we live in.


i won't buy anything new from any manufacturer, until they start building stupid simple and reliable again.

you know what is even more sad, is how many of these vehicles we lost to the cash for clunkers program, the pick and pull business is going to be terrible within the next few years since all those vehicles were destroyed forever

 

[bftank]

i completely agree. i drove a scrap metal truck from rifle to denver for 3months for a guy about as honest as a politician hauling cars from a salvage yard that went by the title Creative Auto Recycling Systems. the only thing creative about their system was how they would load cars into this thrashed trailer with a trackhoe missing one of its tracks and half its hydraulics working. didn't matter what it was it went in the trailer if the trackhoe could get to it. complete drivetrains in late model trucks, ford 9", eight lug axles, small block v8's whatever. it gets worse when the price of steel goes up.

there are some good pick n pulls out there, just not here. cash for clunkers was definitely one of the saddest operations out there. the cars people are purchasing now a days have to have a warranty because they are built to fail. for example the modern diesel truck, every single one of them has injector issues caused by either faulty wiring or over complicated engineering.

anyways this rant could go on forever, but its sunday so i will give it a rest.