Report: Ford considering “global” compact pickup to possibly succeed former Ranger

Note: Australian 2012 Ford Ranger pictured

Fans of Ford’s deceased compact pickup truck, the Ford Ranger, which ended production in December 2011, might have a glimpse of hope as CARandDRIVER reports that Ford is heavily considering the idea of reinvigorating a compact pickup truck.

“The overlap with full-size trucks in size, price, and fuel economy made no sense for the consumer,” Ford’s truck marketing manager told CARandDRIVER. “It led to the death of the shrinking of the compact segment from two million trucks to 250,000 last year.”

But when asked the question about whether there will be another compact pickup, Scott reportedly said that there is still a high interest for compact pickup trucks and that there’s a “formula” with potential.

“We’ve spent a lot of time with customers, and we know there is a market for a true compact truck,” Scott elaborated. “But you have to have—and we have a pretty good handle on it, we think—a significant difference in size, price, and fuel economy. We think we know what it looks like.”

Ford is said to be currently researching the compact pickup market with possibilities of a “global” pickup, much like how the Ford Fusion and Focus all have “gone global” by being nearly identical in all markets.

“We’re still working on it,” remarks Scott.

– By: Chris Chin

Source: CARandDRIVER