What makes Ranger special

Ford is keeping those enhanced models coming

Ranger is a convincing sales leader in New Zealand, so it’s little wonder that rival brands are continually cooking up models that compete directly with the specialised versions Ford has had so much success with.

“We don’t take our commercial leadership for granted,” says Ford New Zealand managing director Simon Rutherford. “We’re making sure we’re still one step ahead.” So meet yet more new variations on the Ranger theme for 2021.

To start, there’s the dressed-up Wildtrak X ($75,490) and the bulkedup FX4 Max ($69,990).

“[FX4 Max] bridges the gap between the full Raptor, where there’s a towing compromise because of the suspension setup, and this which gets the Fox shocks but maintains 3.5-tonne towing.” Ford has also spiced up the mainstream Ranger by bringing the 2.0l biturbo engine and 10-speed transmission option down to the XLT model ($65,990), along with a new grille.

The time is right, says Rutherford: “I think when we introduced that powertrain we were conscious that the reaction might be ‘Oh, it’s only a 2.0’. But we’re past that now and it’s well accepted, although there are still some diehard 3.2 fans out there.

And we get that.

“So we’re not taking anything away. You can have the 3.2 or the 2.0l,” says Rutherford.

“This is our lowest-emitting engine [for Ranger] but we believe it’s also our best engine and it’s our most powerful. So we want to make sure that in our mainstream model, we have the most powerful product that we can deliver.”

There will also be yet another change for Wildtrak in 2021 — a bit more exterior dressing for the 2.0l biturbo model. It’s all designed to keep the Ranger on the boil as we head towards an all-new model, possibly later this year, that has been co-developed with Volkswagen.