Ford Hopes To Resume US Production Of Ranger Pickup

“Job Last” was sold to Orkin Pest Control, which had purchased thousands of of the trucks for its fleet since 1983.

“We think we could sell a compact truck that’s more like the size of the old Ranger that gets six or eight more miles per gallon (than a full-size truck), is $5,000 or $6,000 less and that we could build in the U.S.to avoid the tariff on imported trucks”.

Ford still produces the Ranger in four countries for more than 180 markets worldwide, but the company stopped production of the once-popular model in North America in 2011 in order to focus on its F-series pickups. A variant was also built for sale by Mazda in North America.

Last-generation Ford Rangers on a dealer’s lot. The News reports that the Dearborn automaker has entered contract negotiations with the UAW to bring production of the midsize pickup to Wayne’s Michigan Assembly in 2018.

If revived, the two models would be built at the Ford factory in Wayne, Michigan, that now makes small cars, a Bloomberg source said.

The return of the Ranger and Bronco, which drew unwelcome renown as O.J. Simpson’s getaway vehicle two decades ago, gives Ford key models to compete with offerings by Toyota Motor Corp. and General Motors Co.

The compact pickup truck market has grown in recent years with the introduction of the Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon. Nissan’s Frontier (US variant of the Navara) would be another rival.

The company is now negotiating its next contract with the United Auto Workers union, which is expected to address the future of the Michigan Assembly Plant. That’s the same year production of the Focus and C-Max hybrid and PHEV will move from that facility, likely to Mexico.

She declined to comment on future products for the factory. Brian Rothenberg, a spokesman for the Detroit-based UAW, declined to comment on the negotiations.