Ford Ranger (North America) - Discontinuation in North America

Discontinuation in North America

It was reported in 2005 that an all-new Ranger, codenamed P273, was in the works to be introduced by 2010. The P273 was slated to be a world pickup, presumably to be merged with the Mazda world pickups. A 2007 Ranger for the Thai market based on the Asian 4Trac concept was unveiled; in the end, it did not replace the North American truck. There are rumors that Ford's future product plans in the compact pickup market segment will be announced after seeing how well the redesigned 2013 Chevrolet Colorado fares in the North American market. Ford chose to invest improvements in the Ford Explorer SUV which was branched to a crossover platform than the Ranger, letting Ranger's sales decline.

The next-generation global Ranger, codenamed T6, already at an advanced stage of development by Ford Australia, would be sold in North America despite being designed for global markets outside of North America. The T6 Ranger entered production in 2011.

As of May 2010, T6 engineering prototypes are being tested in various countries including the U.S. It is expected that the new truck will come with at least two engine choices: a 2.0 L EcoBoost four-cylinder, and the 3.0 L Duratorq diesel for models sold outside the U.S.

In recent years, Ranger's competitors, from the Nissan Frontier to the Toyota Tacoma have been redesigned and enlarged towards the mid-size market, leaving the Ranger the only truck in the US compact market segment. The Ranger remains a decent seller for Ford, with fleet customers buying them regularly as well as those individuals seeking good fuel mileage in a compact truck (Ranger gets better MPG than any other pickup with its Mazda-derived 4cyl engine).

Ford initially considered a smaller-than-F-150 pickup truck, one based on the F-Series (following the older F-100 offering). This proposal was cancelled in favor of offering an EcoBoost engine in the F-150 product line.

The decision as to why the Ranger will no longer be available in the United States is that the new global platform is simply too close in size to the F-150. Another factor is due to declining sales, as Ford's Vice President of Global Product Development, Derrick Kuzak, notes that the compact pickup market in the United States has been declining for the past 15 years, dropping from eight percent of the industry in 1994 to around two percent in 2010. The ending of the Ranger in the United States also marks a departure for Ford from the compact truck segment after 30 years.

On June 22, 2011, a report from the United Auto Workers 879, which represents workers at the factory where the North American Ranger is produced, was released which stated that production of the Ranger was planned to end by December 22, 2011. The final North American-built Ranger, a white, extended cab Sport model purchased by pest-control company Orkin, was produced at the St. Paul plant on December 16, 2011. 2011 was the last model year of retail Ranger sales, while 2012 was the final model year of fleet sales.