Ford Ranger XL Street busts out

Ford has revealed a sporty new space-cab variant of its Australian-designed ute, the Ford Ranger XL Street, but the special-edition is targeting only the Thai domestic market for the time being.

Revealed in Thailand today, where the Australian-market Ranger pick-up truck is built, the Ford Ranger XL Street features black alloy wheels, black wing mirrors, red grille inserts and bold body decals to give it a tough urban image.

It was launched alongside the Ranger facelift for the Thai market, which gets a slightly different grille design to facelifted Aussie Ranger utes but similar upgrades, such as the power roller shutter on Wildtrak models, which are set to arrive here from mid-December.

Ford Australia says the XL Street will be a Thai-market special and although the racy-looking machine was penned here in Australia by the blue oval’s local design team, it was inspired by the Ford Thailand Racing (FTR) motorsport versions of the Ranger and targets the domestic market there.

The Ford Ranger XL Street will be offered in Lightning Blue, Aluminium Metallic, Arctic White and Absolut Black exterior colours.

“While we have no plans introduce the Ford Ranger XL Street in Australia, we have recently expanded our Ranger XL offering, with the new Ranger XL Special Edition and the option of an even more capable heavy-duty pack that combines heavy duty suspension and all-terrain tyre options,” said Matt Moran, Ford Australia and New Zealand comms director.

The entire Ford Ranger line-up has also been updated with the FordPass Connect embedded modem for improved connectivity and remote operation across all Ranger variants, while an optional factory-applied tough bed spray-in bedliner for XL, XLS, XLT dual-cab pick-up models is also offered in Australia now.

The Ranger WildtrakX has also returned to the range while the first-ever Ford Ranger FX4 MAX will make its Australian debut in late 2020, offering off-road capabilities inspired by hardcore Ranger Raptor.