Any word on if Ford is going to bring something else out in the mid-size or compact pickup class to compete with the Tacomas and Colorados?

 

F150 XL with V6 or Ecoboost. No more small truck from Ford in the US.

My Dad was recently in the market for a new truck. Needed something to haul stuff for his home without having to spend $50 on gas every time for me to drive to him. He was originally looking at a Super Cab, Long Bed I4 Ranger but didn't like the fact that they were soon to be discontinued and looked the same for 15+ years. He wound up with a GMC Canyon. He really did want a Ford but didn't want the price or size of a half ton.

 

Exactly. Ford's main point for killing the Ranger is for a few more bucks you can have a fullsize truck. The EcoBoost was biting into the small-truck market. Taco's seem larger than the Ranger and the Colo is a joke.

That's tear-jerking.

 

My stepson bought a '97 Mazda B2300, $10K new for a nicely equipped truck. He put 225K on it before he got rid of it (I still see it running around).

Oil changes every 20-25K, a couple of air filters, a set of front brake pads, a MAF sensor, a timing belt, one set plug/wires and a couple sets of tires. He ran that truck out of gas literally hundreds of times, never lost a fuel pump and maybe changed the fuel filter once. That was one incredibly tough truck!

 

My daily driver (2008 Ranger 2.3L 2WD), great little truck. RIP Ranger.

 

is it still near the 'Stein???

 

not sure, sold it to a Security Forces kid right before i came back to the states.. Kid drove it into a fence and destroyed the front end the day after i sold it to him... I had to see it sitting in the parking lot like that for 2 weeks

 

I'm sure it's still around, I saw one like it when I was there

 

My Dad had an '88 straight cab 4x2 that did things no truck that size should have done (mainly pulling a 16-footer WITH a full-sized Yazoo lawnmower, 3 weed eaters and about 20 other odds and ends for the job) for 7 years.

 

What is a "straight" cab?

 

Standard cab, no back seat as the SCab has.

 

yeah, im sure it is.. one of the reasons i left it there was the regulations to ship it back.. .Would have been the biggest PITA and honestly wasnt worth it... Would have cost around $1k out of my own pocket AND i would have to take the body lift, all the lights, etc off.. no thanks!

 

My first Ford was a 99 Ranger 3.0 V6 reg cab. Good little trucks...

 

Got a chance to look up the sales numbers on the non full size truck lines in the US.
When it comes down to full size or less than full size for the US market, we just don't buy them. They are in general money losers

Chevrolet Colorado YTD sales for 2011 ( to NOV-2011 ) 28,056 units + 26% YTD sales numbers

GMC Canyon YTD sales for 2011 ( to NOV-2011 ) 8,874 units + 23.8% sales numbers
- This is a notable increase but once put in perspective, it is not hard to have 25% gains after a slow decline from 2002's high of 41K units down to the bottom in 2010 of 7992 units sold for the year. 2005 did have a slight bump up, but the downward slide started again in 2006, and to 2010 had ~ 28% decline in sales each year.

Dodge Dakota YTD sales for 2011 ( to NOV-2011 ) 11,748 units -2.2%

Ford Ranger YTD sales for 2011 ( to NOV-2011 ) 64,114 units + 25.5% YTD

Nissan Frontier YTD sales for 2011 ( to NOV-2011 ) 46,074 units + 25.7%

Nissan Titan YTD sales for 2011 ( to NOV-2011 ) 19,608 units -7.6%

Toyota Tacoma YTD sales for 2011 ( to NOV-2011 ) 98,565 units + 3.5%

Toyota Tundra YTD sales for 2011 ( to NOV-2011 ) 73,866 units -11.3%

Honda Ridgeline YTD sales for 2011 ( to NOV-2011 ) 8291 units -44.5%

The entire non full size truck sales is 70% of F series US sales YTD, that is 10 trucks including the Ranger.

 

Your number are off by 93,474. The Titan and Tundra are both full size trucks.

I also think a large chunk of the Ranger's sales for 2011 are fleet customers updating their trucks while they still can.