Americans are renowned for their truck culture which has had them doting on the likes of the Ford F-Series Raptor for decades.
It seems however that there has been a recent shift towards smaller, agile options. Nothing meets those requirements quite like a Ford Ranger which has established itself as the ideal compact truck in several markets. This return is promising for Ford, as the Ranger will be entering a market that influences bakkie trends and technologies on a global scale. Diesel is not the fuel of choice in the region, a reality that will likely have an effect on the future engineering of the Ranger. What this means for existing markets like South Africa is difficult to predict though we can assume an increase in petrol variations of the Ranger.
The new US edition Ford Ranger is an update on the globally available Ford Ranger T6 and is set to be released in 2019. It includes a 2.3-litre Eco-Boost turbo petrol engine which it inherits from the beastly and high powered Ford Mustang. Ford has said this inclusion will give the truck the power of a V6 engine paired with fuel-economy that matches a 4-cylinder vehicle. The Ranger will also come with a 10-speed automatic gearbox. The design changes include a new grille, headlights, taillights and bonnet. In terms of features, this edition has a terrain management system in place, included to automatically adjust the vehicle controls and transmission based on terrain conditions including driving in snow, mud or sand.
If you’re wondering what this means for South Africa (and the rest of the world), though Ford has said that the US Ranger is specific to that market it can be speculated that the global Ranger will receive similar updates to the look of the US Ranger. Though no date has been set for release in SA, we can assume it will occur before or with the reveal of the much anticipated Ranger Raptor version which is scheduled for release in 2019.
