• chiliedogg@lemmy.world
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    7 months ago

    Meh. The Ranger, S-10, and Dakota were major sellers for the automakers and they’ve felt that hit . The Ranger has come back in name, but not in size.

    The fact that a 2008 Ford Ranger with 150,000 miles can still sell for 12-15k tells you there’s still a huge demand for this class of truck. The manufactures don’t get another dime out of that S-10 that’s changed hands 4 times - often to people who would have gladly bought new if it were an option.

    Another vehicle class just died to increasingly-strict CAFE rules on vehicle footprint - the small cargo van. The Nissan NV200, Ford Transit Connect, and Ram ProMaster City were all discontinued in the last few years. These were all hugely popular.

    • sunzu@kbin.run
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      7 months ago

      These were all hugely popular.

      Because they did the truck job for kinda cheaper?

      Why sell you practical good value product when they can sell you FORD HEMI 650 69 litre

      we can talk about the product by product basis but if you look at the big picture, it now became clear what they did back then.

      • chiliedogg@lemmy.world
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        7 months ago

        When 5 different people have paid 15-20 grand for the same car that’s approaching 20 years old, the manufacturers are absolutely losing sales. Most people buying them now would prefer to buy new small trucks, but since they’re not avaialbe they buy used and put 3rd-party parts in them to keep them running.

        Ford finally released a small, affordable truck with only a 4.5-foot bed and a hybrid motor (Maverick) , and they can’t make enough of them to meet demand. It’s been their most-successful new vehicle in decades, if not ever.

        They’re on pace to have more than 10x as many sold this year as when they launched in 2021 despite a price increase of over 35%, and it’s still almost impossible to see one on the showroom floor because they’re sold out before they reach the dealer. Ford is making mint on it despite it being too small to be useful as a truck for many users. A true successor to the old Rangers would be a money-printing machine.