About 15 months ago I sat and listened to the Chief engineer of the Ford F-150, Pete Reyes explain what went into creating Ford's new aluminum-intensive truck. After his talk, I had about two minutes of one-on-one with Mr. Reyes. Aside from the amazing story of that truck, what was crystal clear was that Ford had all hands on deck working on the F-150. Despite its amazingly deep bench and almost unlimited resources, the company needed the truck folks on that project. Period. Well, that's over now. The truck is done, the ramp up is complete, and the team is most likely working on the three-year refresh now. That means that valuable, talented truck people at Ford are available again to turn their attention to other work. Like a new mid-size truck for the U.S.
In case you have not noticed, the Toyota Tacoma sells out every month. 17,000 units now three months in a row. So do the Colorado and Canyon twins. Sold out every month at a 10,000 unit volume. No doubt the Nissan Frontier will also continue to do well once refreshed. Regardless of if you love or hate the style and culture of the F-150, most would agree the Ford company can make a good truck. If Ford chooses to they can make a great mid-size for the U.S. Why wouldn't they? The GM mid-size trucks helped push GM past Ford in total truck sales this summer. Ford can and should capitalize on that demand.
That demand will only grow. Right now, gas is cheap. That could continue for many years or by over by winter if OPEC (the family Saud) decide to slow production, or if any of the many small heavily armed countries in the Suez region decide to fight again. Once those things come to pass, fuel economy will only be more important. Demand for mid-size trucks would only grow.
Ford will do the Ranger again. The only questions are will it be aluminum intensive and will it have a diesel engine. What's your prediction?
Images are the European Ranger courtesy of Ford Media.
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