Jun 22, 2011

Ford to quit making Ranger small pickups for U.S. Dec. 22

By Fred Meier, USA TODAY
Updated 3h 56m ago

Ford Motor via WieckAfter almost 30 years and 7 million trucks, Ford will quit making the Ford Ranger compact pickup on Dec. 22, according to the UAW Local 879's June-August newsletter seen by Drive On friend Mike Levine at Pickuptrucks.com.

That UAW local covers workers at Ford's Twin Cities assembly plant in St. Paul, where the Ranger is built. The plant is slated to close when Ranger production ends.

"We are scheduled to run until Dec. 22, 2011. The Leadership of Twin Cities Assembly Plant and its members thanked the UAW and Plant leaderships' for their support during these difficult times for our plant," said the newsletter, according to Levine.

Ranger production began in 1982 for the 1983 model year. The truck replaced the Ford Courier, which was based on the imported Mazda B-Series small truck. Ford wanted a scaled-down, lighter pickup than its full-size F-Series trucks -- one that could work hard, get good gas mileage and compete against small Japanese trucks such as the Datsun and Toyota pickups, and the U.S.-built Chevrolet and GMC S-Series pickups from General Motors.

Instead of replacing the Ranger in the U.S., it will push the F-150 with its new, higher-mpg, 3.7-liter V-6 -- which is a more profitable product for Ford. However, an all-new Ford Ranger for global markets elsewhere goes on sale later this year.

http://content.usatoday.com/communities ... -dec-22-/1