Joe Hinrichs, President of Ford Asia Pacific & Africa launches the new Ranger in Sydney

The next generation, all-new Ford Ranger has been restyled dramatically inside and out, and has grown in size with a new stronger ladder chassis frame. It gets two new TDCi diesels along with six-speed manual and automatic transmissions, redesigned independent front and leaf-sprung rear suspension, and should reach the UK by the end of 2011.

As part of the ‘One Ford’ initiative the next Ranger will be the Big Blue Oval’s first global pick-up and bring with it the resultant economies of scale. It will be built in South America, South Africa and Indonesia.

In line with the current range there will be a choice of three body configurations — single, super and double cab — and there will be a choice of either two- or selectable four-wheel drive.

Changing from two- to all-wheel drive high or low range is taken care of electronically by a turn-wheel in front of the gearstick. The stubby second ‘gearstick’ is a thing of the past and we are pleased to report that so is the dash-mounted umbrella-style handbrake. It’s been replaced with a conventional lever mounted between the seats.

Gone are the old 2.5- and 3.0-litre diesels, replaced by a 150hp 2.2-litre four-cylinder and a 200hp 3.2-litre five-cylinder TDCi powerplant. Both are developments of Euro 5 engines already familiar from the Transit, with the former offering 375Nm of peak torque in new Ranger trim while the latter develops a dribble-inducing 470Nm.

There’s the choice of either six-speed manual or automatic transmissions, with the latter — taken from the F-Series pick-up — featuring a ‘normal’ and ‘sport’ setting, and either fully auto mode or manual sequential ‘changes.

New Ranger gets uprated front disc brakes and rear drums, and the recirculating ball steering is replaced by a much more precise rack-and-pinion system. A fully fledged ABS/ESP package — including Traction Control, Trailer Sway Mitigation and Adaptive Load Control — will be available and we’re hoping that this will be fitted as standard in the UK, at least on the 4x4 models.

Passive safety has not been forgotten, with the availability of side curtain air bags on all cab configurations, Rear Park Assist and a new Rearview Camera system.

Back at the business end it’s all change as well. The load bed is 104mm wider than before, taking it to 1,560mm with 1,139mm between the wheelarches. Sidewall height has increased to 511mm and in the case of the double cab, load length is 1,549mm. Maximum payload is quoted as 1,500kg and we guess that will be for the 4x2 single cab. Towing weights are impressive, but vary depending on model. They peak at a class-leading 3,350kg.

Inside, Ranger’s cab has had a complete redesign to make it much more car-like and we are glad to report that storage space is much improved compared to the current range. All four doors in the double cab can take a bottle of water and the glovebox can accommodate a small laptop. Additional secure storage is provided under the rear seat.

“The new Ranger is an exciting and dynamic vehicle that will undoubtedly raise the bar in the pick-up market,” said Ford of Europe boss Stephen Odell. “We look forward to bringing new Ranger to European customers by 2012 and I am confident it will exceed their expectations.”

As with the current Ranger, the new line-up will also be sold by Mazda badged as the BT-50.

Although Mazda UK no longer imports the current range, and even when it did it was solely in high-spec double cab form, we suspect that come the end of next year it will re-appear on its price list.

If you think the Ranger’s new design is dramatically stylish, just take a look at what Mazda unveiled at the Sidney Motor Show.



Ford Ranger Promo


Mazda BT-50 Promo

for five more videos showing the Ranger being put through development testing in various extreme global climates, as well as an explanation of how the new six-speed semi-auto transmission operates.