Howes: Ford's likely Ranger play signals truck rethink - The Detroit News
Ford Motor Co. ’s probable return of the Ranger pickup to North America would be more than a victory for the United Auto Workers members charged with building it at Michigan Assembly in Wayne. Not in an automotive world driven as much by onerous federal fuel-economy standards as changing consumer tastes and the creeping upscale-ism of the once-pedestrian pickup. Assuming plans to revive the Ranger (and perhaps a new version of the Bronco sport-ute) survive UAW-Ford national contract talks, the move would stand as a reversal of strategy that separated Ford from rivals General Motors Co. and Toyota Motor Corp. — both of which field full-size and compact models in the pickup space. Caught between growing fuel-economy pressures and increasing segmentation of the truck and SUV markets, the Dearborn automaker is preparing to replace slower-selling compact Focuses and even slower-selling compact hybrids at Michigan Assembly with... Moreover, expanding Ford’s pickup and SUV portfolio would mirror a segmentation trend unspooling across the industry, namely that automakers seldom can afford to cede entire segments to competitors in either the premium or the mass-market spaces. It’s that they, or their people, opted to confirm plans to end production of Focus and the hybrids at Michigan Assembly amid national contract talks with the union. Source: www.detroitnews.com
