End of the "Ranger" in North America.Good or bad news for Ford?

[MyThIc3LiTe]

Toyota Tacoma

Yearly Sales for 2000 - 147,295
Highest sales were in 2006 -178,351
Yearly Sales for 2011 - 110,705

Chevy Colorado/GMC Canyon

Yearly Sales for 2004 - 110,705
Highest Sales were in 2005 - 163,204
Yearly Sales for 2011 - 40,616

Ford Ranger

Yearly Sales for 1999 - 348,358; Also the year of highest sales
Yearly Sales for 2011 - 55,364


So, in our market, Ford should retool assembly lines or import the new truck for what? 50-55k a year? If that? Say they even get to 100k a year; obviously Ford did the math and they realized it wasn't worth the R/D costs to give us one.

The reason these sell overseas? Because the consumers are not brainwashed into thinking bigger = better. Ford will sell what the market wants and the market wants Rams, Silverados and F150s. Not the small ones, Tacoma sales not withstanding.

The market has moved on here, why wouldn't the company move on and just cut a unsuccessful product?

[MyThIc3LiTe]

Originally Posted by Mazingo

Yeah.Ford made a better move by retooling an assembly line to build the Flex that never sold over 38,717 in 2009, and went down to 27,428 in 2011.

They really got everything under control.

For all we know the Flex is more profitable to keep and the Flex took over the role of their defunct minivans.

The Ranger isn't dead if you haven't noticed, just not available here. To people. 25k on a F150 makes more sense.

[whynotthinkwhynot]

The Flex is not a replacement for a mini-van, it doesn't have automatic sliding doors. I mean yeah, you're right, in the mind of Ford execs, it's a replacement. It's the Excursion of Crossovers (station wagons). However, if the wifey and I were looking to replace the Windstar, we'd probably not go for it as much as something else. I think they will have more of a winner with the C-Max- if they can hold true to their fuel economy ratings. Ford is nearly as bad as Hyundai about overestimating mpg's these days.

Most Rangers went to fleet sales, but now it seems that their strategy is to market a full size truck that gets fuel economy that's nearly as good and has more room instead of increasing the fuel economy of a smaller truck.

Now what I'm wondering- why haven't they built a hybrid, or even plug-in hybrid small truck or van? The Transit Connect is woefully underpowered with a D20 + 4 spd auto, and small businesses that use that vehicle would be interested in an hybrid option, possibly even a plug-in hybrid. Apparently diesel is out of the question for North American small vehicles, so the gasoline hybrid route is all we can do.

[- Thed -]

I can go on about for killing off my Ranger, but the reality is that it was too old (Which was Ford's fault) and the market has moved on. The Ranger lasted longer than any other compact pickup and that is something to be damn proud of.

Fun Fact: the Ranger sold better than the Transit Connect all the way up until the Ranger's production ceased.

[MyThIc3LiTe]

Originally Posted by Mazingo

People in the market for a "minivan" type vehicle will buy the Explorer,Edge or even the Escape before buying something that looks like a fridge on wheel.And the numbers speak for themselves because these other vehicles have sold over 100 000 unit a year while the Flex was a big flop from the start.

Once again, you don't understand.

The Edge and Escape and Explorer are all crossover/SUVs. All high riders.

The Flex is a lot more like a lifted station wagon in its design and ability to swallow metric tons of cargo. It doesn't even pretend that it can offroad.

Had you actually been in and driven one, its a shockingly good vehicle.

Originally Posted by whynotthinkwhynot

The Flex is not a replacement for a mini-van, it doesn't have automatic sliding doors. I mean yeah, you're right, in the mind of Ford execs, it's a replacement. It's the Excursion of Crossovers (station wagons). However, if the wifey and I were looking to replace the Windstar, we'd probably not go for it as much as something else. I think they will have more of a winner with the C-Max- if they can hold true to their fuel economy ratings. Ford is nearly as bad as Hyundai about overestimating mpg's these days.

Most Rangers went to fleet sales, but now it seems that their strategy is to market a full size truck that gets fuel economy that's nearly as good and has more room instead of increasing the fuel economy of a smaller truck.

Now what I'm wondering- why haven't they built a hybrid, or even plug-in hybrid small truck or van? The Transit Connect is woefully underpowered with a D20 + 4 spd auto, and small businesses that use that vehicle would be interested in an hybrid option, possibly even a plug-in hybrid. Apparently diesel is out of the question for North American small vehicles, so the gasoline hybrid route is all we can do.

The annoying this is that Europe gets diesel powered versions which have plenty of kick given the low end torque.

Why OEMs still cock block America for diesels is a mystery. Clearly they can sell well, VW sells them and prices them like cocaine.

[whynotthinkwhynot]

^^ I have no doubt. The TC probably gets decent fuel economy unloaded, but once you try to get some work out of it- it will bomb. If you're going to get 18 mpg, you might as well drive a V6 or V8. A D23 would get better fuel economy, but the freaking TDCI would've been the bomb. They would've sold tons of them. I've fully loaded gas vans and diesel vans- I know the difference, and any business owner who loaded vehicles down would too.

[MyThIc3LiTe]

Originally Posted by Mazingo

No matter how "good" the Flex is ,it doesn't sell at all.People don't like the look and even the Funeral Homes are not jumping on it.Seriously it looks like an Hearse.Why anyone thought it would sell is mind boggling.

Because while it may not have sliding doors it can haul a lot of things and even tow should you need to? It has 6-8 person seating and it makes road trips a breeze? Because its more akin to a grand tourer in the way it rides?

Obviously we know NOTHING about product planning cause if we had our way every car would be a twin charged V8 getting 80MPG driving all the wheels with 6 locking differentials in a wagon design with only a manual transmission and hydraulic steering all weighing 80 pounds.

I'll leave it to the guys who get paid to study the market and plan cars; not the guys who sit in an armchair and throw stones.

[DayGlow]

I think this tells a little bit more

http://www.goodcarbadcar.net/2012/09...ures.html#more

Ford is so far ahead in F-150 sales that they feel that discontinuing the Ranger will bush even more people into it.

The Flex seems to be a bust though.

[Nik00117]

The flex is a great vehicle that no one understands.

[MyThIc3LiTe]

Originally Posted by Mazingo

¨

Not sure who "we" is,but they need help.

Mainly referring to you and others like you who think they understand product development better than the people running the companies and divisions responsible for such things.

Btw, is your space key broken?