S e u o n g Posted November 24, 2021 Posted November 24, 2021 Ford is adding a six-cylinder turbodiesel version of the next Ranger pickup to help attract more high-spending customers in Europe and other global markets. The redesigned midsize Ranger will reach showrooms in early 2023, Ford of Europe said in a statement Wednesday. An electrified option, expected to be a plug-in hybrid, will be available by 2024, the automaker has said. A redesigned front-end structure will "future-proof the Ranger for other propulsion technologies," Ford added. The current Ranger is available with a 2.0-liter four-cylinder diesel in Europe, in several power levels. It is offered in two-door regular cab, two-door four-seat Super Cab and five-seat, four-door double cab versions, for passenger and commercial registrations. The cabin of the new Ranger will be "car-like, using premium soft-touch materials" Ford said. A new focus on technology includes either a 10.1-inch or 12-inch central touch screen, a new digital instrument cluster, as well as the addition of a modem to allow customers to connect to the vehicle via the FordPass smartphone app. The equipment upgrades and higher quality materials reflect the fact that many customers in Europe buy high-spec versions. "The majority of our [Ranger] business is really high end," Hans Schep, Ford of Europe's head of commercial vehicles, said at a Ford capital markets day in May. "You would be surprised at the money customers spend. Not just on the vehicle, but what they bolt on afterwards." In the first quarter, 89 percent of Rangers sold across Europe were five-seat, four-door, double-cab models, Ford said. Of the total, 78 percent were high-spec lifestyle variants such as the Wildtrak and Raptor. Ford dominates the relatively small European pickup market with the Ranger after rivals such as Mitsubishi, Nissan and Renault cut or scaled back models. The current Ranger led the segment at the end of September with a share of 39.9 percent on sales of 45,539 units in Ford's 20 European countries, the automaker said. Its main competitor is the Toyota Hilux. Ford has said the new Ranger will be sold in 180 countries globally. No plans have been announced for the U.S., where the Ranger, revived in 2019, is sold alongside the vastly more successful F-150 full-size pickup, but the company is expected to add the new model at a later date. The new Ranger was designed at Ford’s Product Development Center in Australia. "Our team was focused on one goal - to make this Ranger the toughest and most capable we've ever created," said Graham Pearson, Ranger vehicle program director, said in the statement. The new Ranger is equipped with a body-on-frame ladder chassis, in line with previous generations, but Ford said a hydroformed front end allowed for a wider engine bay to accept the 3.0 V-6 diesel. A 50-mm longer wheelbase pushes the front wheels further forward for better off-road ability, while the track has been widened by 50 mm width to allow larger items to be loaded in the bed, including full-size pallets or sheets of plywood. LINK:https://www.autonews.com/cars-concepts/ford-europe-adds-v-6-diesel-redesigned-ranger
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