Rumors of trucks smaller than today’s midsize pickups hitting American roads have swirled around just about every brand, but now Ford is confirming that the blue oval brand is developing one.
Ford is working on “more affordable versions” of its truck business according to Jim Farley, Ford’s President of Global Markets.
“You can expect new nameplates below where we compete today,” said Farley.
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No timeline has been offered by Ford, though a previous report from Automobile Magazine, citing unnamed sources, claims that the new mini truck from Ford will arrive by 2022. The same report also claims that the new Ford compact pickup will be unibody, based on the next-generation Ford Focus platform.
A Fiesta-based compact pickup truck called the Courier was sold by Ford on foreign markets until 2013, so some speculate that the new truck could be called the Courier. But seeing as that name has no roots in North America, we would expect Ford to pull the name from its history somewhere.
Ford also recently announced that it is partnering with Volkswagen on commercial vehicles and pickups, and though Volkswagen is likely to rebadge the next-generation Ford Ranger as its own, we wonder if this partnership might also bear some fruit from Ford. Volkswagen recently showed the Tarok concept, a compact pickup with some neat features, something that Ford could possibly use to bring its own compact truck to market. Time will tell how this partnership will affect each brand’s trucks.
So would you be interested in a compact pickup truck from Ford? Let us know in the comments below what you think of the idea.
And don’t miss out epic Ford Ranger roadtrip, which you can watch right here!
[Source: Automotive News]
