By Pickup trucks are getting more popular every year and while most of the market still belongs to traditionally designed body-on-frame pickup trucks, unibody designs are becoming more and more popular too. Therefore, the Blue Oval company is about to expand its lineup with such a vehicle. We are talking about a comeback of the well-known Ranchero and the latest reports suggest a quite similar design approach.
The new model would come next year as the 2022 Ford Ranchero. It would feature a typical unibody layout and it would come as a replacement of the current Courier. Moreover, it would be offered in North America. The new pickup would be notably bigger and more capable, and we count on a pretty wide engine offer, which would include diesel options as well. Moreover, some forms of electrification are possible too.
2022 Ford Ranchero Redesign
Naturally, the first thing that comes to mind about this pickup is the platform. As we already mentioned, the 2022 Ford Ranchero would be bigger than the Courier, which is based on the subcompact Fiesta. The new model would be base on the Focus, as well as on the new Kuga/Escape. Still, the wheelbase could be longer in this case, in order to provide enough room for both passengers and cargo back in the bed.
When it comes to the styling, there are all kinds of rendering photos that show the same front end as in Focus and Escape. However, we believe that this model would rather come with something that looks more rugged, which is designed in a typical pickup truck manner. In practice, this would mean a lot of design solutions borrowed from bigger body-on-frame siblings, as well as from the new Bronco and Bronco Sport model. The latter seems particularly interesting, as it comes with a unibody layout but closely resembles the standard Bronco.
In any case, the new model will look quite interesting. It won’t be too big, like Honda Ridgeline, but rather compact, so everyone expects that the upcoming Santa Cruz would be the biggest rival.
Interior
On the other side, the interior design would be rather typical. This means we would see a cabin design that resembles mechanical siblings, such as Focus and Escape. However, we also expect slight differences in terms of style and materials, which would make the dashboard look more rugger, more truck-ish.
Most likely, most single cab and double cab versions will be in the offer. We expect one wheelbase variant, so the bed length will depend on the cabin style.
2022 Ford Ranchero Engines
When it comes to the powertrain, we count on Ford’s typical units. First of all, there are two familiar gasoline engines that power Focus and Escape models. We are talking about a 1.5- and 2.0-liter turbo-four EcoBoost units. The former is good for about 180 horsepower and 190 pound-feet of torque, which seems more than decent for a vehicle of this size. Still, those who prefer a sportier ride will have a choice of the optional turbo-four engine with 250 horsepower and 280 pound-feet of torque. Both units come in pairs with 8-speed automatic transmission.
In parts of the world like Europe, we could see diesel versions as well. Those would probably use a 2.0-liter EcoBlue turbodiesel, which comes with either 150 or 190 horsepower. Finally, some form of electrification is also possible, so we could also see hybrid and plug-in hybrid variants.
2022 Ford Ranchero Release Date and Price
The 2022 Ford Ranchero would probably come sometime in the second half of the next year. Base models would go around 20.000 dollars, roughly, while the key competitor should be the upcoming Hyundai Santa Cruz.
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