2024 Ford Ranger Raptor
ford
Detroit– Ford on Wednesday unveiled its redesigned Ranger midsize pickup for the U.S., including a new Raptor performance model.
The addition of the Raptor — which starts at $56,960 — is part of Ford’s plan to add high-margin models to boost its profits as the company pours billions into electric vehicles.
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Ford Chief Executive Jim Farley told investors last month that specialty models such as the Raptor share roughly 80 percent of their parts with regular models, but have 30 percent higher margins and “twice the capital efficiency.”
Ford expects the Raptor to account for about 10 percent of Ranger sales in the U.S., according to Ford pickup marketing manager Gretchen Sauer.
“The Raptor will be the high end of our Ranger lineup,” Sauer said. “This will increase our overall transaction price for Ranger.”
2024 Ford Ranger Raptor
ford
Ford declined to disclose the current average transaction price for the Ranger.Auto research firm Edmunds reported about $41,300 as of last month.
Powered by a 3.0-liter EcoBoost V6 engine, the Ranger Raptor adds to Ford’s Raptor lineup, which currently includes the F-150 full-size pickup and Bronco SUV.
Ford also raised the starting price of its standard Ranger model, which includes additional technology and safety features. The entry-level XL model starts at $34,160, up about 18 percent from the current model’s $27,400. The Ranger Raptor increases the vehicle’s top-end starting price by 34 percent. Pricing includes mandatory destination charges.
Orders for the 2024 Ranger begin this month, with vehicles scheduled to begin arriving at dealerships in late summer.
Global pickup
Ranger sales in the U.S. pale in comparison to the Ranger Ford’s larger F-Series trucks, smaller pickups are crucial to the Detroit automaker’s global sales. Ford builds the car at five different plants around the world and sells it in more than 180 markets.
The Ford brand will sell more than 1 million pickups worldwide in 2022, and the automaker said Ranger sales have more than doubled from a decade ago, surpassing 300,000 last year. According to industry figures, the Ranger is second only to the Toyota Hilux in global sales.
2024 Ford Ranger Raptor
ford
“Our mission has always been to climb the mountain of number one,” Jim Baumbick, Ford’s vice president of product development and quality, told CNBC. “We’re clearly number two globally, and our goal is to be on the podium.”
Ranger sales in the U.S. fell about 40% last year as the automaker grapples with supply chain issues and prioritizes production of the Ford Bronco SUV, whose sales more than three times 117,000 units by 2022.
ranger and mustang
Both the Ranger and Bronco are produced at a single plant in Michigan, which creates a sort of push-pull effect in their respective productions.
“Ford is going to be trying to decide which car to make at any given moment, but they can go back and forth,” said Stephanie Brinley, chief auto analyst at S&P Global Mobility.
Balancing Ranger and Bronco production at Ford’s Michigan assembly plant is something he spends a lot of time with, Baumbick said.
“It’s a challenge. It’s a good question. We’ve had incredible demand for both the Bronco and the Ranger,” he said. “As we roll out the new Ranger, we’re constantly trying to strike a balance between the two.”
2024 Ford Ranger XLT Sport
ford
The Ranger sits between Ford’s compact Maverick pickup and the automaker’s full-size F-150 and larger F-Series trucks. This is the first Ranger redesign since Ford released its critically acclaimed Maverick pickup for 2021.
To help differentiate the pickup, Ford has added more features and power to the Ranger. It’s also 2 inches wider and 2 inches longer than the current-generation truck.
The 2024 Ranger will come standard with a turbocharged 2.3-liter engine making 270 horsepower and 310 foot-pounds of torque. The twin-turbo 2.7-liter V6 currently offered in the F-150 and Bronco SUV will also be available. The engine produces 315 horsepower and 400 foot-pounds of torque.
The Ranger Raptor will come standard with a 3.0-liter EcoBoost V6 engine expected to produce a best-in-class 405 horsepower and 430 foot-pounds of torque.
The Bronco SUV is built at the Ford Michigan Assembly Plant on June 14, 2021.
Michael Whelan | CNBC