Polish your wheels and get ready to lay frame, because Ford is reviving the mini truck
Ford exec Jim Farley confirms the brand's plan to make a sub-Ranger pickup in the near future.
Contrary to what the famous song says, what the world needs now isn't love, it's mini trucks. Ford knows that, which is why it confirmed that it would make a truck that will slot in below its new Ranger -- but kept mum as to whether it would come to our shores.
Jim Farley, Ford's president of global markets, confirmed the brand's plan to revive its small truck line during his talk at the Deutsche Bank Global Auto Industry Conference in Detroit on Tuesday, Automotive News reports. He delivered this news alongside a confirmation that the Blue Oval is planning to offer fully battery electric versions of its F-Series pickups.
While the mini truck market was hot all through the '80s and '90s, interest died off and so too did available models in the US. The rest of the world has been living the high life though, with Ford producing a Fiesta-based truck called the Courier as recently as 2018.
The Courier, for those readers with a keen memory or an unhealthy obsession with tiny trucks , was Ford's answer to the LUV pickup sold by Chevrolet . It was based on the Mazda B-series trucks, though imported in incomplete form and reassembled here. It had a four-cylinder engine and not much else.
Automobile Magazine in July reported that we could expect a small unibody pickup based on the Focus platform by 2022, citing anonymous sources within Ford. Given that Ford has killed the Focus for the US in its pivot to hotter-selling trucks and SUVs, it seems plausible, if not likely, that this could happen.
Frankly, we hope that the rumors are true and that it sparks a resurgence of mini trucks in the market, similar to the one medium-sized trucks are having now. Oh, and also Mini Truckin' magazine. That needs to come back too.