Ranger tailgate
Todd Hallenbeck25 Nov 2015
NEWS

Ford Ranger too late for US?

Aussie-designed Ranger will find the going hard against entrenched opposition three years from now

One of the appealing aspects of the Ford Ranger when it went on sale in Australia late in 2011 was its fresh, new design.

But the same car, facelifted earlier this year and now slated for launch in America roughly three years from now, will be anything but fresh.

Put that late arrival in the American market down to Ford's abrupt epiphany, after years of Ford CEO Mark Fields adamantly declaring Ford would not consider Ranger for the US.

His reasons varied from lack of customer demand to profitability. At the time, Fields had also reached deep into Ford's financial pockets to fund development of the aluminium-body F-series. Fields, though, is a money man not a product man. Raj Nair, vice president and chief technical officer, is the product man.

Nair knows Ranger very well from his previous role based in Asia-Pacific where he oversaw the current Ranger's design (at the Ford studio in Broadmeadows) and engineering through to production for Asia-Pacific in Rayong, Thailand.

Nair's familiarity with Ranger will give the development team key insights as to where to tweak and redesign the mid-sized pick-up for US buyers.

If Fields needed confirmation that Ranger is right for the US, he should look at GM's dynamic duo – Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon – selling quickly to a completely different buyer than does the full-size Silverado. GM is currently at full capacity building 80,000 Colorado/Canyons per year and looking for ways to increase that capacity. The two have bluntly smacked Ford and Toyota.

Rest assured, Ford's R&D staff in Broadmeadows will be working plenty of overtime to catch the Colorado and Canyon twins, following the three-year head start.

"We are really, really excited about Colorado," said Mark Reuss, GM executive vice president global product development.

"It is good man! It is like so good," he told motoring.com.au during the LA motor show recently, referring specifically to the pick-up's turbo-diesel engine.

Reuss pointed out that GM did do some radical re-engineering of Colorado and Canyon for the US market. The chassis is made from high-strength steel, not the milder steel used in Asia/Pacific – including Australian. No doubt we can expect to see this improved chassis find its way into the Asia/Pacific Colorado at some point in the future.

"We really have some clever stuff in it like a torsional damper. The N and V [noise and vibration] is spectacular. And the steering is incredible. You can drive it every day."

That's where the mid-size pick-up is being defined differently from the full-sized work truck. Colorado and Canyon offer car-like driving dynamics, safety and comfort as well as car-like fuel consumption.

"I know Australians would love to have this Colorado," said Reuss, hinting at possible improvements being developed and introduced into Colorado for Asia-Pacific.

Colorado and Canyon do give Ford a sizeable target to hit with the Ranger. But with the Ford (and its Everest SUV, to be badged 'Bronco' in America) still three years away, the GM models have a free pass to build up market share in the meantime.

Ranger for the US will share dimensions and exterior design similarities with Ranger internationally; however, the US-built Ranger will be engineered for the American market including extensive rework of its diesel engine range to meet US emissions. Production is expected in begin in 2019-2020.

NVH improvement is bound to be a priority, along with interior design, comfort, features and materials. The US Ranger will also carry improved active safety and dynamic technologies.

The 3.2-litre five-cylinder turbo-diesel engine producing 147kW and 470Nm is the logical choice of engine to match GM's 2.8-litre turbo-diesel in the Colorado and Canyon, and the engine offers easy performance gains. Those performance gains will be imperative for the Ford powerplant to match the 500Nm peak torque of the GM powerplant.

Last week, the US EPA confirmed fuel estimates for Colorado 2WD diesel are 31mpg (7.6L/100km) highway, 22mpg city (10.7L/100km) and 25mpg (9.4L/100km) combined.

That's another (moving?) benchmark for Ford to match with the Ranger.

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Written byTodd Hallenbeck
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