Ford Motor Co. is pricing the revived Ford Ranger about the same as the segment-leading Toyota Tacoma as it prepares to re-enter the midsize pickup market for the first time in about eight years.
The 2019 Ranger, which goes on sale early next year, will start at $25,395 — including shipping — and will top out at more than $40,000. That's about the same as the Tacoma, which starts at $25,400 for 2018 models, but more than the Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon. Pricing on the 2017 Colorado starts at $20,995, while the 2017 Canyon starts at $22,095.
Ford said Tuesday it has opened dealer order banks and consumers can begin preordering the truck.
The Ranger will come in three trim levels: XL, XLT and Lariat. Ford will sell two-door SuperCab and four-door SuperCrew configurations and offer both four-wheel drive and two-wheel drive for each configuration.
The base XL 4x2 SuperCab with a 6-foot box will be priced from $25,395 with shipping, Ford said. The XL 4x2 SuperCrew with a 5-foot box starts at $27,615.
The most expensive Ranger, a Lariat 4x4 SuperCrew, will be priced at $39,480. That figure can top $40,000 if buyers choose the FX4 off-road package, which is a $1,295 option.
The FX4 package is offered on all 4wd models. It comes with the terrain-management system first offered on the F-150 Raptor that features four drive modes: normal, grass/gravel/snow, mud/ruts and sand. The package also includes a new "trail control," which acts as an off-road cruise control by accelerating or braking to maintain a set speed while traversing gravel or mountain trails. It's an extension of the automaker's hill-descent control, which controls braking on steep grades. The FX4 package will come with standard automatic emergency braking.
Ford sells the Ranger in dozens of markets overseas. The 2019 Ranger has been specifically engineered for North America, company officials say. It will come with only one engine: a 2.3-liter, EcoBoost mated to a 10-speed automatic transmission.
The latest Ranger has a mostly steel body, axles made by Dana Inc., which supplies the Jeep Wrangler, and an exterior design similar to its larger F-series counterparts. During development, it went through the same torture tests as the F-150. It will include a number of tech features, such as a standard 4G-connected Wi-Fi hot spot, FordPass Connect and pre-collision assist technology.
Ford stopped selling the Ranger in the U.S. in 2011. It was regularly among the segment's top sellers, including No. 1 as recently as 2004. Ranger sales routinely totaled more than 300,000 a year in the 1990s before fading in the early 2000s.
U.S. sales of midsize pickups have climbed 18 percent this year after rising less than 1 percent in 2017.
