Report: Ford Compact Pickup Truck Set for 2022 Launch
A future Ford compact pickup would likely be a touch more stylish than the previous-gen Courier
Mere months away from diving back into the midsize truck market, Ford is said to be testing the waters for a return to the compact pickup segment within the next five years.
Automobile reports that Ford is exploring the possibility of bringing a unibody compact pickup to the United States by 2022, marking the first time Ford has offered a small pickup in the United States since the Courier gave way to the Ranger in the early 1980s. It would also mark the first time that Ford has offered a truck smaller than the Ranger since the midsize truck replaced the Courier in Brazil in 2013.
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Per Automobile’s sources, the Ford compact truck would be larger than the Courier was but smaller than the Ranger, which will return to dealerships early in 2019. Because it would be a compact unibody, it likely wouldn’t be the profit-making machine that is the F-Series, but it would if nothing else allow Ford to entrench itself as the top truck maker in the industry.
Whether the truck would bring back the Courier name is as-yet undetermined, but Road & Track reported that Ford has filed to trademark the name with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Automobile posited that this would be a great opportunity for Ford to revive the Ranchero name. Whatever the final decision, we can likely all agree that its inevitable performance variant should be called Compsognathus rather than Raptor.
Ford spokesperson Dawn McKenzie would offer no further comment to R&T, instead reiterating that Ford will be “significantly expanding our North America lineup with all-new vehicles and entering new segments with fresh designs and white-space silhouettes that will position us for even more growth.”
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News Sources: Automobile, Road & Track
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