I just read this on Autoblog.....


One little fact buried in the linked piece about Ford's $2 billion UAW savings is this: the Ranger is dead come 2009. It has been known for a while that the Twin Cities Plant in St. Paul, MN that makes the Ranger would close, and the closure date has been pushed back one year, to 2009. The Cleveland plant that casts engine blocks will also close that year. Credit goes to Automotive News for teasing out these new nuggets of info.

We wrote earlier about possible rescue scenarios for the Ranger, but it looks like the Ranger mine has been shut down and sealed off. Mulally has said that Ford will be more forthcoming about its plans at the Detroit show, so anything is still possible. However, after 26 years, it looks like the compact pickup truck thrill is gone. For you Ranger fans out there, the tune you're looking for is "Taps."




http://www.autoblog.com/2007/11/20/i...ead-come-2009/

 

A few tears just welled in my eyes. Even though I know it has been coming. Something like that makes it a little more official.

 

:( i dont want to think about it

 

Theres a tear in my beer right now...

 

sad to hear.. thanks for ruining my nite...

 

yea ive heard that too but the plant in louisville which makes the explorer and the sport trac just got a new 4 or 5 year contract (i cant remember). they are phasing out the explorer and are supposed to be getting a new product. most think it is going to be a midsize truck maybe the f-100 that they will be producing. but nothing is set in stone yet

 

I still think calling the Ranger dead is a little premature... check this...

Just because the Twin Cities plant is scheduled to close, shouldn't mean the "Ranger" is dead. Maybe the Ranger as we know it, but who's to say there isn't tooling being set at another plant for the next gen Ranger?

Until Ford officially announces that the Ranger is gone from the line up I can't believe the rumors.

"Wes Sherwood, Ford's manager of truck communications, tells PickupTruck.com that reports of the Ranger's death are a bit premature.

"We only announced that the plant will now be closed in 2009 instead of 2008 as previously planned. We are studying the compact truck market and will announce plans closer to the plant closing," says Mr. Sherwood.


Automotive News is reporting that Ford Motor Company will end production of the Ford Ranger compact pickup at the end of the 2009 model year.

The Ford Ranger was first produced in 1983, a year after General Motors introduced its Chevrolet S-10 and GMC S-15 small trucks. They all replaced Japanese imports in their lineups and went head-to-head with competitive offerings from Toyota and Datsun (which later became Nissan).

It was lessons learned from the Arab oil embargo and gas crunch of the 1970s that drove Ford to build the Ranger. It was designed to look like the full size F-Series pickup and could carry a four-foot wide sheet of plywood in its cargo box while getting better fuel economy from a four-cylinder engine.

The Ranger became enormously popular. It passed the Japanese and domestic competition in sales to lead the segment from 1987 to 2004 - peaking at 348,000 units sold in 1999.

But as fuel prices slowly dropped and the economy boomed, demand for small pickups began to slide, after peaking around 1.1-million units in 1999. Why buy a small truck when, for a few thousand dollars more, buyers could own a full size?

Ironically, even with gasoline prices rapidly reapproaching inflation adjusted all-time-highs, the Ford Ranger hasn't been able to regain sales traction. It hasn't seen a major mechanical update since 1998, while all of its competitors have been replaced with entirely new platforms and powertrains. Ranger's year-to-date sales are down 20.9% compared to 2006, to only 62,200 units.

Ranger production will be halted at the end of the 2009 model year, when Ford's Twin Cities factory in St. Paul, Minnesota is closed.


http://www.pickuptruck.com/html/news...anger/rip.html"

 

this is not new. there are probably 20 threads "confirming" the close of the MN plant.........NO DUH!

I've heard tell just as many people say that they are going to start building the ranger else where.

 

I am sad. For a while now I have had dreams of owning a crew cab Ranger to haul my friends and family around in while still driving a truck I love.

 

x2 i would love a crew cab 4x4 Off-Road Ranger i think they would look awesome lifted.

 

saying its dead is like saying pigs will fly... I won't believe it till I see it...

 

let them kill off the ranger...i'll still buy it used... never will a transfer over to jap or chevy for my small pickup needs... i love the ranger since i was like 6 when my dad had his little red one... i plan on owning many more...

its like the bronco.. it has a cult following and always will... go ahead kill it, people will love it just as much and then what...you will have nothing we will buy and just stick to used vehicles.. well i know i would.. there isnt much out there on the market that i would ever think of buying myself...

hell when i have kids.. sport trac for me... nuff said...

 

Dammit, that doesn't help my confusion of what to do with my Bronco... LOL

 

KEEP IT!! There are hard to find and I have no doubt you would regret getting rid of it.

 

"cuz Ford's the reason for the teardrops on my guitar"

 

What guitar

 

My thoughts exactlly!!

 

they will kill it for a year or two, then bring something back is my bet.

 

yea and it wont be some uni body......

 

she's 17. lol.

 

^^^ha ha... Only for another month...

 

I can look at the menu I just can't order anything

 

^^^thats some funny sh*t....

 

LOL she's only 2 years younger than me, so she's outta the JAILBAIT category for me!!!!

As far as the Bronco goes, the tranny is shot so either way I've got a decision to make...

.... anyone know how to convert from an E4OD to a ZF in the computer system?!?!?!

 

diesel time!!!