New Ford Ranger mega thread

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cnet.com/google-amp/news/ford-focus-based-tiny-pickup-report/

...

 

Not surprising. Fiat makes a Ram 50 for Mexico that’s the same concept. It even has a version with a locking differential and 8” of ground clearance. While they would look like ass they would be perfectly capable of playing weekend warrior. I also believe Subaru is working on the concept again after the failure of the Baja.

 

Aussies get all the cool rides...

Can you say Ford Falcon Ute ?!

 

Can I fit 33s on a 1st gen Ranger with only a 2 inch lift?

 

I can remember back in the late 80s or early 90s Dodge sold a Ram 50, think it was a rebadged Mitsubishi

 

All of the American compact trucks were a result of a partnership with a Japanese company.

Ranger- Mazda
S-10- Isuzu
Dodge D50 - Mitsubishi

 

Toyota-Toyota

 

Don't forget Geo was basically Japanese cars sold under the GM brand.

 

Geo was the unilateral agreement GM had with Suzuki, Isuzu, and Toyota brought full circle.

Chrysler had a similar thing with their Mitsubishi partnership, Diamond Star Motors, but didn't make a seperate brand.

Ford just used Mazda in all their 4 cylinder applications and created the Probe... which oddly enough was supposed to be the next gen Mustang until people flipped their lids.

 

I remember the Ford Courier being a rebadged Mazda until the Ranger came out in 1983, then starting in 1994 Mazda rebadged the Ranger as the B2300.
The Chevy Luv was a rebadged Isuzi until the S10 came out in 1982 and then Isuzu rebadged the S10 in the mid 90s as a Hombre.
The Ram 50 I can only remember being a rebadged Mitsubishi

 

Yes they did I liked them and the Mitsu, based on looks as I knew nothing about their build quality or performance. I think they also had two door Montero/Raiders on the same or shorter chassis.

 

^Don't forget the 2006-2009 Mitsubishi Raider, which was a rebadged final-gen Dakota, made uglier: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitsubishi_Raider

 

Why was Toyota selling a Mazda that they had badged as a Scion ?

 

That was awful looking, no Rali art variant?

The last gen Dakota did not appeal to me as much as the previous generations.

 

Because they owned stock in Mazda.

Same with Subaru (FRS/86 and BRZ)

I don't think there's a car company today that isn't part of a bigger conglomerate

 

I thought there was a reason that made sense on paper. Now that you say that I do recall hearing that.

It still seems stupid imo, then Scion was done. Don't know why, I think Toyota didn't want to tarnish their brand with Scions not holding up as well as their Toyota siblings, not that Scion vehicle were supposed to.

I still don't get the whole Lexus thing, since they don't exist in Japan.

 

There's also a culture in Japan that companies help each other to prevent them failing, so Toyota has partnerships with Mazda and Subaru (Fuji Heavy Industries) that helped them when they were struggling. It's almost considered insulting being successful by being cut throat, which is why Toyota didn't kick GM when it was really struggling a few years ago. If they were an American company in their position of becoming huge in the 1990s and 2000s they probably would have dropped the axe on GM.

 

Half right...

They had an agreement Toyota sells Mazda parts... Toyota sells the Mazda 2 as a Toyota product. I think factory partnership was in the deal too IIRC.

Toyota has a similar arrangement ongoing with BMW... Toyota offers their hybrid technology and BMW offers performance knowledge. The end result of this will hopefully be the new Supra redux.

Subaru and Toyota partnered specifically for the 86/BRZ project.

 

https://jalopnik.com/the-first-2019-ford-ranger-raptor-reviews-are-in-its-a-1827930584

 

Subaru is building a PHEV Crosstrek and using Toyotas hybrid tech.

They might not be sitting down at shareholder meetings, but each other's success is something they want.