IS THE TOYOTA TACOMA’S SALES LEAD UNTOUCHABLE?

Yep. Update the interior and call it done. Maybe change the grill. But leave well enough alone.

 

One of the main reasons the old Ranger sold well was its cheap price. Ford wants to maintain its sales lead that it has with the F-150.

 

If the Colorado had better styling, it could have taken the Tacoma.

Let's face it though. People trust the Toyota name. That's why it wins in the sedan and midsize truck world where customers aren't as loyal, but want value and reliability. As domestics regain consumer trust, Toyota will cede control to the big three. Full size and sports cars customers are fiercely loyal to domestic brands that's why the big three own both market segments.

 

Your right and for full size the tundra dosnt get the respect it should with comes to half ton gas jobs I had a tundra and felt overall it was best truck esp when towing equipment

 

I wasn't aware Toyota announced another engine option for the Tacoma?

Ford will most likely go with the 2.0 or 2.3 L Ecoboost though as you mentioned. Both engines make better power down low than the 2GR with it's current Tacoma tune. I wouldn't rule out Ford using the 2.7 L in the Ranger Raptor though. Lots of shots already of a version of the Ranger with larger fender flares and a wider wheel base.

 

Not sure why Toyota fans keep repeating this. GM pretty much showed that you can have your cake and eat it too with both truck sizes in the market. Ford didn't give the Ranger/Bronco project its own factory just too make a couple of vehicles.

As for how threatened Tacoma sales will be, I'd say not much. I think the mid sized truck market has room to grow. Not because of fuel prices, but because people are using trucks more and more as commuter vehicles with benefits. I'd be willing to bet the Ranger will take more sales away from the Escape, Fusion, and Explorer than the F150.

 

It gets respect. It's a good half ton with some nice upgrades to the diffs and brakes. What it doesn't get are fleet sales which limit its impact on the market. You can't be 20% less efficient and demand a premium. No one wants a truck like that in their fleet.

 

Ford has been impressing me with their drivetrains as of late.

I would be willing to go take a new ranger out for a test drive to check it out. Probably, for me, it's the most anticipated truck other than my Tacoma, in a long time. I just hope it has turbskis

 

Ford is using their current Ranger sold in the world as a test vehicle. Chassis is supposedly will be the same for the soon to be reborn 'merican version but they are going to change the styling to make it more rugged. Rumored to look more like the F150. If you've been to the Ford's Ranger page, they are going full steam after Toyota. Only has a picture of a mountain trail but the caption is clearly going after the "endless weekend" buyer.

 

Confirmed. However, much like the change Toyota did between the 2nd and 3rd gens, Ford is using only the layout of the global truck. The quantities of each type of steel used as well as some of the structure is being changed to comply with NA safety regulations.

Not a rumor either. Plenty of test mule photos now that show a truck with a very similar look to the 2018 F150 crossed with an Escape.

Ford's Ranger page? You mean the one on their site? All it does is go after that weekend warrior look that all small trucks do. It's not even that Ford is gunning for Toyota. Ford is gunning for the small truck market.

I know you're new but trust me, I have a source with Ford. The Ranger is coming and it's going to impress. Actually things have gone pretty quiet lately and, given the test mules now out on public roads, I think it's fair to guess that's because Ford has selected their powertrain and is now in the process of finishing up the truck before releasing it to the publics eye some time next year similar to how Toyota released the 3rd gen.

 

If Ford does a good job with the Ranger I think it will be a big seller.

 

I mistakenly own a 2012 Ford Focus...
first and last FORD that I will ever own.I wonder if anyone that complains about the Tacoma automatic transmission has had the experience of driving a Focus..

 

Just read in 1999 over 350k Rangers were in that year. In 2015, 180k Tacomas.

 

Too be fair that was when they were both compact trucks as well. The weird thing is when people compare the 2005-2012 Ranger sales to the 2nd gen Tacoma. The trucks were 5K apart on price and a foot or more apart in size by that point. Not exactly Apples to Apples.

 

I wouldn't mind if the Ranger was actually a small truck again. There is definitely a huge market segment that isn't being served even by these "mid-size" pickups.

 

Ford gave up on Ranger by 2005 in believing people would buy a scaled down F150 instead of a nicely equipped small truck. And when the bigger 2nd gen Tacoma came out, Toyota kicked Ford's butt in smaller trucks hands down. I think both trucks were solid choices at the time though. Today, Tacoma is tops in the current crop and I wouldn't consider anything else. Until 2019.

 

I predict a turbo 4 cylinder and/or the 3.3l NA V6 for the Ranger. With a possible small displacement Diesel to compete with GMs Diesel Canyon.

 

Well that's close to the whole story. What Ford actually did was diverge the Explorer from the Ranger in the early 2000's. After that happened Ford couldn't decide what to do with the Ranger and decided to offer a more commuter friendly version of the Explorer (AKA SportTrak) with a box. The SportTrak never sold well though because, while it was everything a car owner could want in a truck which is how a lot of private ownership trucks are used, it didn't ever have the "truck" look or feel.

Ford considered shuttering the Ranger line as early as 2006 but decided to keep building them for a pile of reasons. First off, fleet sales were really good. Secondly, they were cheap to make and the facility they were made at was cheap to operate. Third, the dealers were selling all the inventory out so there was no pressure to stop making Rangers.

When the 2nd gen Tacoma came out and Ford was thinking about shutting down the Ranger, Ford did look into building a new mid sized truck. You can look it up but it was going to get the old F100 badging and be based off the Explorer but with a more aggressive look. However, at that point, Ford was restructuring and decided a F150 with an Ecoboost checked most of the boxes the F100 would of checked anyways. Once the crisis hit and the factory needed upgrades to keep making the Ranger, the decision was made to exit the small truck market.

Now Ford is watching GM make more trucks than they do because of the Colorado/Canyon sales and they quite simply cannot have that. Ford wants to sell trucks. They don't care if they are F150's, Rangers, etc etc, they just want the sales because they can make money on the larger vehicles. Hence the Ranger is returning. It also helped that basically every large dealership chain was screaming at Ford to bring back the Ranger every year anyways.

 

Will it be aluminum like its big brother???

 

Everyone assumes the real money is made on F150's over Rangers. The truth is, after discounts, the two trucks will be nearly the same price point. Turns out, based on GM sales, most people will buy less truck for more money. Ford wants that. GM makes a killing on 40K Colorado's. Way more than they would make on $50K Silverado's selling for $40K anyways.