Now back in the midsize pickup market in a big way, Ford is cranking up production of the new Ranger at its Michigan Assembly Plant just west of Dearborn.
This is a big deal for the Ford Motor Company, for Southeast Michigan, and for the members of UAW Local 900: Production is now under way on the 2019 Ford Ranger, the company’s re-entry vehicle to the intermediate pickup market in the USA. Introduced in 1983, the Ranger was produced in Ford’s Louisville and Twin Cities assembly plants until it was discontinued in 2011. Now Ford has jumped back into midsize pickups with a new, sixth-generation Ranger, a thoroughly Americanized version of the Australia-designed pickup sold in international markets since 2012.
The Michigan Assembly Plant (MAP for short) is located in Wayne, Michigan, 10 miles down the road from Ford World Headquarters, the mothership in Dearborn, and across the street from a big Ford stamping plant built in 1952. (The two Wayne facilities have since consolidated.) The assembly plant went online in 1957 building Mercury station wagons, and since then it has produced F-100 pickups, Broncos, Expeditions, and the Lincoln Navigator, among other vehicles.
A $550 million makeover in 2009 adapted the plant to flexible manufacturing, and the Focus and C-Max were assembled here. Now, as part of the Motor Company’s much-publicized shift from cars to trucks and crossovers, MAP has received another $850 million overhaul to produce the Ranger, and it will also build its off-road sibling the Bronco beginning in MY 2020. While the launch was formally celebrated this week, the move was announced back in January of 2017, and discussions with the UAW and other stakeholders were underway in mid-2015.
The original 1983 Ranger rode on a 107.9-inch wheelbase, weighed 2,750 lbs, boasted 73 horsepower from its 2.0-liter four, and stickered at $6,203 (nearly $16,000 in 2018 bucks) in base form. The latest sixth-gen Ranger has moved upmarket a bit. The sole powertrain choice currently is a 2.3-liter EcoBoost turbocharged four with 270 hp coupled to a 10-speed automatic transmission, but there are a host of chassis and cab options, not to mention the usual laundry list of standard and optional extras, and there are XL, XLT, and Lariat trim levels. Prices will start at around $24,000 when the new Ranger hits the showrooms in January, and Ford is hoping to sell a ton of them.
Ha ha. That’s an F-150. Enough kidding around, when are they going to build small pickups like the Ranger again?
That’s not an F-150…it IS the new Ranger. Look at the pictures again.
Andy is being sarcastic.
Ford, I hope you are reading this. First of all this new Ford is F150 size with a four cylinder??? How do you expect to even tow a small 18′ travel trailer or a car hauler???? I have a 1999 Ranger with a V-6 that is just the right size and is perfect for getting around in tight spaces.
Ford, We want a small tough truck capable of throwing 2X4’s or a washer or a fridge in the bed, a interior that is tough and that we don’t have to worry about getting dirty because it looks so pretty. We want a small truck NOT an WANNABE truck!!!!
If you want four doors buy a car. It’s obvious your product planning never talked to people who use need a real a truck to use as a truck, and oh by the way I hope the bed rails are low enough for a worker to lift something over the side. When I’m at the building supply I’m always hearing contractors complaining that they have to crawl in from the tailgate to get to something in the front of the bed because the bed rails or the truck is too high. Ford, this just wears people out!
Hi Don, your 1999 Ranger had 150hp and 185 ft-lbs. Some needed a 4:10 gear rear end to move at all. Yes they were small back then but also had very little safety features. Never mind the fuel economy, the F150 did better. This new Ranger has been built for years in Australia and sells very well. It will also be available in a Super cab like the older model so you don’t have to buy the full 4 door 🙂 The 4.0L in 2010 was rated to pull 5,600lbs https://www.ford.com/resources/ford/general/pdf/towingguides/10FLMrvRANGERsep09.pdf
New ranger will have 7,500lbs towing so yes will pull better then your 99 for sure. Give it a chance, take one for a drive when they come in. You maybe surprised.
I want a small truck with a V-6. I want at least a 6ft. bed and have bed rails that I can swing a 90lb. wet saw over the side if I need to so I don’t have to climb into the truck. I want A/C, Am/FM C/D player. Roll up windows and a five speed stick. No fancy wheels, just steel wheels and a poverty cap. A work truck-the reason trucks were made for.
As far as my 99 Ranger goes and safety is concerned The truck came with crumple zones, ABS, Driver and Passenger air bags and three point inertia seat belts, and door side beams. What else could you possibly want?
While I’m at it. In the article it says that a 83 Ranger cost $6203., and adjusted to today comes out to 16K. So how do you justify a starting point at 24K????
I guess they are selling trucks to someone, but not to us. I’d like a ’85 Ranger or even a ’77 F-100 with A/C and a radio and I’m good. I don’t know how you are suppose to haul anything in these new trucks when the bed sides are five feet off the ground.
Just waiting for SOMEONE (hopefully domestic) to make a true, small pickup. Think Chevy Luv on the small end, original S-10 at the biggest.
Glad to see some investment in Michigan; this has to be Good News for the people and cities there; but I do understand the concerns of everyday use of these things by ‘happy families’
True, investment in Michigan is good. After reading this posting, I went looking for current coupes that could be converted to a mini pickup with minimal changes. Thinking Kia Soul.
But apparently, there’s no such thing as a two-door these days. I didn’t find any aside from Mustang/Camaro. I was hoping that there was something that could simply be cut off behind the front seat.
I don’t need a V6, I don’t need to haul an 18′ travel trailer. I just want something that allows me to throw stuff in the back. 750# cargo load would suit me fine. 1000# towing capacity is fine. I don’t want to have to open back doors. I don’t want to have to haul seats out onto the front lawn. I want to throw and go.
A 5′ X 9′ bed with side rails that fold down, a truck that can be loaded from THREE sides even with a forklift! What a concept! A truck you can actually work out of ! Anyone guess what that was?
Sounds like a VW Type 2 Transporter… or any number of other European trucks/”camionettes”…
From what I see on the highways & byways, these newer small pickups are quite popular for carrying a few things: a kayak or two… a bicycle or two… a surfboard or two… an occasional bag of groceries or two.
FWIW I worked at what was then called Michigan Truck. Although I did get laid off in 1980 when the market for Broncos and 4×4 pickups tanked and they went down to one shift, I still recall the old-timers saying “They’ll never close this place. This is their baby. This plant makes a lot of money.” Although I never went back (could have), I guess they were right!
Why do I get the feeling I’m looking at an Explorer Sport Trac instead of a Ranger? The original Ranger was sized just right, if you needed a bit more cabin room you got the extended cab version with it’s extra 2′ or so. The new one looks more like a suv with a bed. I have 2 94’s that I will inherit one day, guess they will stay in the family, sure won’t be buying no $24,000 vehicles. Heck, I only paid $8500 when I bought my used 99 F150, and I thought that was too much money!