Ford bringing Ranger pickup back to North America, reviving Bronco
by Canadian Manufacturing.com Staff
Looking to take advantage of thriving truck market, U.S. automaker reinstates pickup and plans to breath new life into long-dead SUV
Ford president for the Americas Joe Hinrichs unveiled the company’s plan to bring back the Bronco at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit Monday. PHOTO: Ford
The automaker announced the fresh additions to its lineup at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit Jan. 9—a week after it said it would cancel a $1.6 billion plant planned for San Luis Potosi, Mexico and redirect the investment toward electric and autonomous vehicle development and production in the U.S.
Ford pulled the Ranger from the Canadian and U.S. markets in 2011 amid slumping sales of small trucks, but said it will reinstate the pickup in 2019.
“We’ve heard our customers loud and clear. They want a new generation of vehicles that are incredibly capable yet fun to drive,” Joe Hinrichs, Ford’s president of The Americas, said. “Ranger is for truck buyers who want an affordable, functional, rugged and maneuverable pickup.”
The Bronco, meanwhile, has been in the ground for 20 years.
It enjoyed a 30-year production run between 1966 and 1996, but Ford killed the SUV when sales started slumping. Ford touted the revived vehicle as a “no-compromise midsize 4×4 utility for thrill seekers,” but released no other specifics.
Both the Ranger and the Bronco will be built in Wayne, Mich. at Ford’s Michigan Assembly Plant. The Ranger will go on sale in 2019 and the Bronco will return to the automaker’s lineup in 2020.
Ford also announced Monday it will finally be offering a diesel engine option in its best-selling F-150 starting in 2018.
