The first official images and footage of the forthcoming Ford Ford Ranger pick-up have been released ahead of its full unveiling later this year.
The fourth-generation Ranger will go on sale next year and replace the highly successful current model, which cemented itself as the UK’s best-selling-pick-up truck shortly after the third generation went on sale in 2011.
The first pictures of the new Ford pick-up are accompanied by a teaser video (below) promising even more performance on mud, grit, rock and snow. Footage shows the pick-up drifting over various terrains while testing in Australia and New Zealand, alongside details of the various testing phases: "Making sure everything works when it’s full of mud", “Punishing the powertrain in the desert” and “Torture testing when the going gets tough”.
Next year’s Ranger will continue Ford’s truly global vehicle strategy with the one-tonne pick-up due to go on sale around the world, including North America. Built in Ford’s dedicated pick-up truck plants in Thailand and South Africa, the new model has been created by Ford’s design team in Australia and, judging by the prototype’s camouflage, is likely to take its design influences from the latest Ford F-150.
In keeping with the global strategy, a common diesel engine shared between the new Ranger pick-up and Ford’s light commercial vehicle range of vans is probable, with a petrol option specifically for the North American market.
However, no details on powertrains have been given yet nor any indication that there will be a zero-emission electric Ranger to sit alongside the larger Ford F-150 Lightning in the US. A recently spotted prototype of the Ranger gave clues to development of a PHEV option, which would fit with Ford's strategy to offer a zero-emission-capable version of all European commercial vehicles by 2024.
The Ford Ranger platform will also be shared with Volkswagen and used for the next-generation Volkswagen Amarok. Volkswagen exited the UK pick-up sector in 2020 due to increasingly stringent emissions targets that its V6 Amarok was unable to meet.
Ahead of the new Ranger’s arrival next year, Ford has been increasing the number of limited-edition Ranger models on sale with the Ford Ranger Stormtrak and Ford Ranger Wolftrak, as well as a Ford Ranger Raptor Special Edition.
George Barrow
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George, in this platform share, does it result in quality up for Ford, quality down for VW or do they meet in the middle?