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Originally Posted by jcp123
There's probably a fair number of good income earners who might keep a cheap pickup at home, the way so many have done with Tacomas and previous Rangers for so long.
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And most likely those who look at a so-called cheap pick-up as an option for a 2nd or 3rd vehicle of the household might prefer it to feature a well-proven, no-frills engine which can be fixed easily.
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Heck, even I'd tickle an $18k regular cab, simple four-banger stick Ranger if it came around. Oooh, or a regular cab, stick, shortbed stripper model with a 1.0 or 1.6 ecoboost. Or diesel? So many ideas, and so little seeming willingness from Ford.
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I wouldn't hold my breath for a stick-shift new U.S.-spec Ranger and, even though I have already seen older compact trucks with 1.8L gassers I wouldn't expect anything below 2-litre to be fitted to the Ranger. When it comes to Diesel, even though the 3.2L straight-5 is already emissions-certified stateside, I wouldn't hold my breath for this option in the Ranger too. You know, even though it's presumably cheaper and less sophisticated than the 3.0L V6 turbodiesel offered to the F-150, most rednecks look at the displacement as a premium feature, and it would be quite weird to see a presumably "inferior" truck featuring a larger engine. It happens now here in Brazil where the F-350 is available with a 2.8L Cummins while the Ranger has the 3.2L on its higher-end version...
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Maybe a pickup Transit Connect or Ram Promaster might be a better concept for light-duty, household pickup work? Or a good wagon...
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I have already seen an U.S.-spec Transit Connect with diplomatic plates in my hometown, presumably serving the local U.S. Consulate. In fact it's more of a replacement to the stereotypical soccer-mom minivan. But anyway, when it comes to the Ram Promaster, considering that Fiat offers platform-and-cab versions of the Doblò in Europe, it seems kinda surprising that it doesn't import those to the U.S. as a way to circumvent the Chicken Tax. I'm sure it would be cheaper to import the platform-and-chassis version to fit a locally-built cargo body instead of importing a passenger van to convert locally into a panel van like Ford does.