Ford has historically found itself holding out on its own home market. Don’t think so? Here are a few vehicles that America didn’t get to enjoy:
Ford Fiesta ST/XR4
Mk2 Ford Focus ST
It’s become public that we can now add the Ford Ranger Raptor to that list.
According to reports, Ford Performance leaders determined that a junior off-road truck to compliment the F-150 Raptor would have taken too much effort and money to prepare the Ranger Raptor for the U.S. market. Allegedly, the 2.0L diesel – the standalone powertrain for the Ford Ranger Raptor – is the main roadblock. The engine isn’t federalized, and even if it was, its 210 horsepower and 369 lb-ft of torque may not pack enough power to satisfy the tastes of American customers, even though the engine has greater power density and superior horsepower over the Chevrolet Colorado ZR2 with a 2.8L Duramax diesel engine, which is sold in America.
While this may be the official explanation, there might be more to the story. After all, the 2.3L EcoBoost in the base Ford Ranger (which is to be built and sold in the United States) shared with the Ford Mustang and Focus RS with 270 hp and 369 lb-ft of torque represents a strong offering on paper. With that in mind, our train of thought is drawn towards the following conclusions: not offering the Ford Ranger Raptor here means the golden goose that is the F-150 Raptor will remain safe. The truck only sits on dealer lots for an average of 20 days, according to Ford. Secondly, it might be that Ranger Raptor was once intended for America, but current market turbulence might have allocated funding to more vital priorities. We may never know the real story.
Source: Autoblog
Comments
I hope it’s not true. Ford needs NOT to protect the F-150 Raptor but to KILL the Toyota Tacoma and Chevy Colorado. So the diesel is a non-starter, so what; the 2.3 EcoBoost has already shown it can make 350 hp in the Focus RS… … Jim Hackett ought to call in his chief engineers and tear them a new one.
Amazing. Between this, and their new: “No more sedans/only Crossovers and SUVs” edict, the entire management team seems to have lost their minds.
Raptor has nothing to fear from a USA Ranger Raptor.
Really don’t think someone seriously considering a $60-70K Raptor is gonna be satisfied with a Ranger Raptor.
Ranger Raptor would steal sales from Tacoma, Colorado & even Wrangler. Maybe they fear it would step on Bronco sales but still a dumb move IMO.
I was ready to buy a Ranger Raptor as I have no desire to buy an 86 inch wide F150 Raptor. I guess in their race to the bottom my money doesn’t matter. However, I still buy a Flex or an EcoSport. Or soon an Edge ST. A bunch of vehicles no one needs or wants. Bravo, Hackett…
well it is a shame. Ford announced it was dedicating itself to Truck,SUV,cross overs etc. Now they are cutting us short on the Ranger Raptor……………..with no real good excuse. If we are not allowed a V6 Ranger and only the 4……..why not a Raptor 330-350 HP 4? What is your excuse?
For some reason you can get like 5 different engines in a Mustang, a car that sells 100k a year, but only one engine choice for the Ranger, which should sell in similar numbers. That’s the excuse, it’s too expensive to offer Ranger options..yet that doesn’t seem to apply to the Mustang. It’s more absurd because the Mustang is the only “passenger” car you will be able to buy from Ford, starting next year. A two door sports car will be their only car offering. Unless you can afford the GT…
They obviously don’t understand the concept of snaring young buyers. You have to have something utilitarian for sale at 20-30k for people to become loyal to your brand. Ford thinks everyone has 60k to spend on an F150 or 35k to spend on a sports car (and wants to). This is going to bite them in the rear ends. I’m pretty sure Hackett is a GM plant, because they couldn’t wish for any stupider moves from Ford.
You make a great point. IMO marketing people are way too ivory tower to have their finger on the pulse of young buyers. I attended the internal marketing launch for the Ranger back when they launched the 3rd gen (same timeframe they launched the 4th gen Mustang). I remember the marketing presentation had me very surprised. I remember distinctly thinking the marketing people were crazy. The target buyer for a Mustang was like 25-40 and the target for a ranger was 18-40 but at the prices those cars were at the time, I recall thinking “what 20 year old can even afford these cars”… especially the Mustang at that time. I just think Marketing folks are Not in touch with reality. You can see their ads all over the industry that miss the mark… 20 somethings traveling in lazy cross country road trips in $65000 cars… cranes dropping loads of bricks into a $70k luxury pickup… etc… our of touch and I wouldn’t trust them to advise upper Management on what will sell.
Ford made a big mistake by not bringing the Ford Ranger Raptor to the US market. I was a ranger fan that was going to buy the RANGER RAPTOR .now I am going to buy either a ZR2 or a ZR2 BISON
After watching the video on the ZR2 AVE Bison on the GM Authority sister site, I completely agree. GM has offered a class of truck here with absolutely no competition except for maybe the Toyota Tacoma TRD Pro.