3 Reasons Why Ford Will Bring Back the Ranger - Motley Fool
fans, it was a biggie: Ford and the United Auto Workers are said to be discussing the possibility of building a new version of the Ranger midsize pickup at a factory near Detroit starting in a few years. The factory in question, Ford's Michigan Assembly Plant, currently makes the compact Ford Focus and C-Max. But Ford has said that production of those vehicles will move elsewhere -- likely to Mexico -- after 2018. That has led to the obvious question: What is Ford planning to do with that factory. If the answer is "build a new Ranger pickup," it makes a lot of sense. The hint that it might close Michigan Assembly after the Focus departs was almost certainly made to give the UAW something to think about during contract negotiations. But it makes sense that Ford would want to use its existing U. S. factories -- which have higher costs than plants in Mexico or Asia -- to build its most profitable products. Simply put, a new Ranger that follows the path laid out by General Motors ' new midsize trucks would almost certainly be a much more profitable product than the Focus. The Focus is a good product, and Ford makes money on it. But a look at the new GM midsize pickups, the Chevy Colorado and GMC Canyon, suggest that Ford could make quite a bit more money on a similar Ranger. Source: www.fool.com
