By now I'm sure many of you have seen the articles peppering the web about the Ford test-truck and accompanying spy photos that are suggesting that Ford could be working on a new F-100.

For those interested in seeing a collection of the pics, here's a link to the Truck Trend article.

Honestly I'm not sure what to make of this. It's shape indicates a modern F-150, but with older-model wheels. Apparently, the big clues that this might be something different are a smaller track width (with no real measurement that can be tough to determine) indicating a smaller truck, 5 lug wheels, a lower ride height, and a dual split exhaust pipe that looks like it might be diesel-powered.

My thought is that they are testing either a new diesel-powered version of the F-150 or possibly the next year's model. What do y'all think?

 

Funny seeing spy shots of test mules that look as though they are sporting rims straight off of a 1997 F-150!

Hoping for a light duty half ton with the 3.2L I5 Power Stroke that will be used in the up coming Transit Van. The F-100 & F-150 co existed before, no reason why they can't now.

 

I would not believe anything about a F-100, maybe a downsized F-150. Where would they build it, here or over seas? Any plants here being built or swaped over to a smaller version? Seems like everything is getting smaller again. Last I heard was this:
Automotive News -- March 4, 2013 - 12:01 am ET
DETROIT -- Ford's compact Ranger pickup is gone, but for many dealers it's not forgotten.

"I think there's definitely a need," said Martin Gubbels, owner of Big Sky Ford-Lincoln in Torrington, Wyo., who said he has many customers who would love a pickup smaller than the F-150.

Ford discontinued its small pickup in 2011 amid dwindling sales and has stuck to a one-pickup strategy since. "Here in truck country," said Gubbels, "I took as many as I could get my hands on" in 2011, when Ford was winding down Ranger sales.

Gubbels recently took a 2011 Ranger with 6,500 miles in trade and says it's worth as much now as it was when new. "There's a message right there," he says. Ford "gave up a nice little chunk of market share they were once dominant in."

Beau Smith, co-owner of Sill-TerHar Ford in Broomfield, Colo. and chairman of the Ford National Dealer Council, adds, "Dealers are worried about losing sales in that small-truck segment."

But Rich Savino, president of All America Ford in Old Bridge, N.J., isn't convinced. He says the old Ranger had run its course by the time sales stopped. "How feasible is it to bring a new platform and spend all the billions of dollars for some incremental sales? I'd rather see them spend the money on something else."

Scott: Seeking a business case

Doug Scott, Ford truck marketing manager, says Ford understands dealer concerns and is keeping an eye on the segment. "There is a market for what we would consider a true compact, a truck that is significantly smaller and more affordable and has significantly better fuel economy than what you find in the full-size truck category.

"I would argue there aren't any true compacts in the market today," he says. "The challenge is to deliver that product with a good business case." He said Ford continues to evaluate the market.

Ford introduced a global Ranger pickup in 2011, the same year the U.S. Ranger went away. The pickup was developed overseas, is built in Thailand, and is sold in 188 markets -- but not the United States. Ford has no plans to bring it to the United States and has told dealers that for now it will stick with its strategy of selling just the F-150 pickup.

"The global Ranger is 90 percent of the size of an F-150," says a Ford spokesman. "It's a big truck."

In January, 23 percent of customers who traded in a Ranger for a new Ford chose F-150s, he says. Ford maintains that F-150s with a V-6 get better fuel economy than most small pickups. F-150s equipped with V-6 engines, rather than V-8s, accounted for 53 percent of the 2012 sales total, a rate that exceeded Ford's expectations.

A 2013 F-150 XL Super Crew, powered by a 3.7-liter V-6, matches the 19 combined mpg rating of the 4.0-liter V-6 2013 Toyota Tacoma small pickup, according to Edmunds.com. But the 2013 four-cylinder Tacoma gets 19 mpg city and 24 mpg highway.

Ford dealers are interested in the global Ranger's diesel engine lineup, which includes a 3.2-liter five-cylinder and a 2.4-liter four-cylinder.

The 3.2-liter, used in the Transit commercial van to be sold in North America, is on some dealers' wish list for the F-150.

When Ford abandoned compact pickups in 2011, it enjoyed roughly a 25 percent share of a shrinking segment. In 2012, compact pickup sales totaled 264,197 units, down from 1.2 million in 1994, when Ford led the segment with 344,744 Ranger sales.

With the departure of Ford and Dodge in 2011, Toyota and General Motors were left as the last major players offering small pickups. The Tacoma's already dominant share of the segment shot up from 38 percent in 2011 to 54 percent in 2012.

GM stopped building the compact Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon last August, and a redesigned compact pickup is expected next year.

Tom Libby, automotive forecast analyst for Polk, says there's every chance the segment could rebound, leading Ford to jump in again.

"The entire industry is moving down in terms of size. The segments that are losing share have been the segments that have big vehicles: large SUVs and full-size luxury cars, for example," he says. "If that trend continues, and it will because of CAFE, that segment could level off and begin to gain

 

That is one sweet looking truck...and take a look at how much it weighs...way under 5000lbs. Picture it with a 5.0 V8. that thing would haul ***.

I am referring to the global market Ranger...

 

Ford has two V-8 powered Rangers going to race in the South African Cross Country race. A lot say they are ugly but if I'm driving one, wouldn't matter. Just don't like the big trucks.
Dave
>>Donaldson CC: Ford announces new 5.0-litre Ranger for South Africa´s CC.<< marathonrally.com

 

They're not as nice looking as the stock body Ranger, to be sure. The body mods for the race ugly it up somewhat...but someone recently posted a mid 14 second quarter mile in a 5.0 F150. The Ranger would likely be in the mid 13s at 100+ easy at 4500 lbs...that's at least 1500 lbs less than the F150.

I want one...!!! and I'm damn near 72...!!!

 

Considering the consistent MPG's that I'm getting from my truck, I can't see any benefit except for a smaller more parking lot friendly truck.

On summer blend fuel I'm getting 16 city, 19 mixed and 22+ on the highway and I have oodles and gobs of power.

 

I am all for a mid or small size pickup. Rangers around here still seem to get a pretty penny due to their mpg. If they get mid 20 mpgs their wouldn't be any reason they wouldn't sell well. As gas prices keep going up their shouldn't be any reason why they wont sell if marketed correct. As far as chevy goes, when they dropped the s10 they still sold a small size pickup overseas. In Mexico it was carried the Luv badge. Kinda looked like they Colorado now I think about it.

 

The only way a small truck will sell well is if it is a true 4-door rig. People will want this for running around town, putting their kids in etc. I can't find a direct comparison, but that Global T6 ranger is about the same curb weight as an F150, so no much point offering both.

The old ranger was light because it didn't have many features, any new version will be a very different truck.

 

Just one old guys opinion, I still think there is a market for a small, tough work truck with good mileage and reasonable power, minimum tricks but again, tough. I passed up what was probably a good buy on a 4X Ranger a while back because it was so tricked out and dolled up I didn't want to sit in it. Seems like the truck market is heavy on the plush which is just fine for the family and the highway but some of us need a WORK truck.

 

I am happy with my F150, but a smaller truck would make more sense around town.

The 2.0 Ecoboost, in an updated (but not larger!) Ranger would be a good seller, IMO!

 

Yeah that tendency to make everything bigger isn't always best. I used to need and appreciate the size of the F250 but if you don't need the size, it becomes more trouble, finding a parking spot, navigating crowed, narrow streets etc. than it's worth. Big is thirsty too of course.

 

A new F-100? is this due to the ranger being axed? I worked with a guy who had a 1970 something F-100, only one I've ever seen, Saw bigfoot dozens of times with jimmy Hoffa and Elvis though