Ford Working on Making Compact F-100 Truck Viable
In December 2011, Ford ended production of its Ranger, arguably America’s lost truly compact pickup truck offering.
Over the last year and change however, the American automaker has been working on figuring out a viable compact truck for the market, essentially a new Ranger or F-100 that could be approved for production. But it’s not so simple as just taking its F-150 pickup and downsizing it and making it more affordable.
As each new generation of pickup trucks enters the market, they’re more powerful, capable of carrying more payload, and have a higher tow rating – essentially, the trucks continue to expand and get bigger. Ford however, believes that there’s certainly a market still for compact pickup owners that look for size, price, and fuel economy at the sacrifice of payload capacity and tow rating.
So what does Ford believes it has to do? Essentially consumers are looking for a 1,000 pound payload capacity and a 3,000 tow rating. Combine those attributes with lowered fuel consumption, and they may even look past the fact that it’s a car-based pickup, so long as its durable.
And then of course there’s price, which is the bigger issue if Ford was to move forward with an F-100. Currently, the F-150 starts at $24,500 and if an F-100 was priced competitively close to that, shoppers would naturally opt for the larger of the two pickups.
Nothing is definite yet for Ford in terms of a compact pickup, but the American automaker is working on it and admits that it’ll be a challenge.
[Source: Car and Driver]
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Jason Siu began his career in automotive journalism in 2003 with Modified Magazine, a property previously held by VerticalScope. As the West Coast Editor, he played a pivotal role while also extending his expertise to Modified Luxury & Exotics and Modified Mustangs. Beyond his editorial work, Jason authored two notable Cartech books. His tenure at AutoGuide.com saw him immersed in the daily news cycle, yet his passion for hands-on evaluation led him to focus on testing and product reviews, offering well-rounded recommendations to AutoGuide readers. Currently, as the Content Director for VerticalScope, Jason spearheads the content strategy for an array of online publications, a role that has him at the helm of ensuring quality and consistency across the board.
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When my 20 year old F 150 finally wears out, I'll probably get a Toyota Tacoma. The modern F 150s are just too big. Need a ladder to get up in the bed of the truck.
I looove my ranger - best value for the money. Could have bought a Tacoma but decided to buy a Ranger + a dirt bike instead. Sure hope Ford figures this out soon. I can see where they are coming from in regards to production cost but you can't turn your back on the HUGE demand out there for compact trucks.