Ford of Canada is this country's largest auto maker by sales, so you would think Canadians who want to buy the Ford Ranger compact pickup would rate highly with this Detroit-based car company.
After all, through the end of November, Ford of Canada had sold 15,375 Rangers. That's more than 1,000 a month, on average, every single month of this year.
There is plenty of demand for the Ranger in Canada, despite it being essentially a 20-year-old design. Here, the Ranger remains a certified hit. Yet Ford has officially said the Ranger in Canada and the United States is as dead as a doornail.
The Grim Reaper is coming for the Ranger in Canada even though Ford recently introduced a new Ranger for global markets. Canada apparently isn't considered part of the world – say, like Australia. Nope, it appears we're the 51st state. U.S. bosses, it seems, would rather sell a cheap version of the F-150 than an even more affordable Ranger. (The Ranger starts at $13,999 before discounts, versus the F-150 which starts at $19,999.)
Erich Merkle, Ford's top U.S. sales analyst, told WardsAuto: "Nobody has infinite resources, and we have to figure out how we can best position those resources to meet the needs of customers today and in the future. (The Ranger) has been pretty popular, but we think more of a baseline F-150 can also meet a good portion of those needs."
Corporate-speak, if ever I've heard it.
But Erich Merkle can't spin his way around the fact that the Ranger is a bargain and it's a sensible pickup, too. Canadian buyers want it because it lists for at least $6,000 less than an F-150. Moreover, while it's the size of a car and easy to park in any mall or hockey rink in this country, the Ranger has the functionality of a full-size rig on a slightly smaller scale).
Truth is, a Ranger is all the pickup most suburban buyers need to haul rubbish to the dump. It is also all the pickup needed by most ranchers, hobby farmers and tradespeople, too.
Yes, yes, yes, Ford says Ranger sales have slumped to 55,000 units or so, and that small pickups now account for just 2.0 per cent of the market, versus 6.0 per cent in the heyday of small pickups. But Ranger sales have tanked, I think, because the Ranger in showrooms today is pretty much the Ranger in showrooms in 1991. If Ford had spent a couple of buck to update the Ranger now and again, then buyers would be interested.
As WardsAuto notes, many dealers would like to see the Ranger continued but at a lower price point. "There is still good demand for a lower-priced, good-gas-mileage, small truck," said one dealer. Another doubted that Ranger customers will find the same price and fuel economy advantage in an F-150. Of course that dealer is absolutely correct.
Canada is the only country in the world where Ford is No. 1 in sales. That should give us a little clout with the Dearborn, Mich., decision-makers who are not just killing the Ranger in the U.S., but also Canada – at least as much clout as Australia, where the new Ranger will be sold.
Am I the only one lamenting the passing of the Ranger in Canada? At a time when the "green" mantra is being touted by car makers from Ford to Toyota, isn't there a place for a fuel efficient and thrifty Ranger in the U.S. and Canada? Personally, I think so.