New Ford Ranger exposed

Yes folks, you’re looking at the all-new 2021 Ford Ranger ute – and the last to be designed and engineered in Australia.

The premature and unofficial reveal of the next-generation Ford Ranger comes courtesy of Wheels magazine, which last week published these images apparently shot at an outer Melbourne transport depot.

At the time Wheels speculated the vehicle was either a Ranger ‘knock-off’ produced by another manufacturer or a Ford design proposal for the next Ranger itself.

Naturally, the scoop images were published by media outlets around the world including US website Jalopnik, which was subsequently asked by a law firm acting on behalf of Ford to remove the images.

“We are outside counsel to Ford Motor Company (“Ford”), which asked us to contact Jalopnik and ask for its voluntary agreement to take down copyrighted images of a Ford automobile…,” read the email to Jalopnik.

“Attached is a screenshot on which the photos have been circled. Ford did not authorize release of the photos, which Ford has strong reason to believe were released in violation of a non-disclosure agreement.”

Needless to say, the images remain at Jalopnik and elsewhere, and Ford is fuming about the embarrassing exposure of what could be the replacement for the Ford Ranger released only months ago in the US, where demand continues to exceed supply.

Ford Australia would not comment on the debacle when asked by carsales.com.au, but the Blue Oval’s US lawyer confirms the striking dual-cab ute in the images is a Ford vehicle.

Our sources have now confirmed it is indeed our first look at the next generation of Ford’s global mid-size pick-up, revealing all-new sheetmetal (the first all-new Ranger ‘top hat’ in a decade) and a handsome new front-end look that bears a striking similarity with the recently revealed 2020 Ford F-250.

In fact, the blacked-out windows and dolly jack indicate the vehicle is in fact a clay ‘buck’ rather than a running prototype, meaning it was most likely on its way to or from Ford’s Broadmeadows design studio where it was created.

Whether the top-secret clay model was presented at Ford’s Dearborn HQ or shown to potential customers at local or overseas market ‘clinics; is unknown, but either are possibilities given the redesigned ‘T7’ Ranger is due for release in just two years.

When it goes on sale in 2021 – 10 years after the current T6 Ranger was launched -- the T7 Ranger will likely be the last designed and engineered in Australia, where it is being developed alongside the next-generation Volkswagen Amarok due in 2022.

The 2021 Ranger is effectively a reskinned version of the current model riding on a development of Ford’s Australian-developed T6 platform, which also forms the basis of the Everest, but its replacement due around 2028 will be new from the ground up.

As Ford has announced, the Ranger will eventually migrate to an all-new modular ladder frame – one of just five global Ford platforms going forward – to be shared with the full-size Ford F-Series truck range.

The consolidation of Ford’s global mid-size and full-size pick-up models onto one flexible platform is already resulting in engineering redundancies at Ford’s Australian-based Asia Pacific Product Development Centre.

This is despite the fact it “will take on additional global PD projects, boosting local expertise in advanced electrical engineering, interior and exterior automotive design and engineering, and feature integration”, as Ford said on January 15.

Although that means Ford Australia will retain more post-manufacturing R&D capability than Holden, the 2021 Ranger could be the last ground-up model developed here by the Blue Oval.

“Ford Motor Company is assigning new design work to Ford Australia to support global projects as the company continues to drive improvements to its global product development operations,” said Ford on January 24.

“Ford is revamping its global product development operations to better meet local market needs and improve efficiency and quality, which includes a move to five modular and flexible architectures.

“As part of those changes, elements of the Ranger platform will integrate with Ford’s single, global body on frame flexible architecture, which will be led out of the United States.

“Certain powertrain commodities and systems currently engineered in Australia will also move to other powertrain sites globally, enabling complexity reduction and scale efficiencies.”

There’s good news for Ford fans, however, including a chance the next F-Series will be a global pick-up built in both left- and right-hand drive ex-factory for the first time, and official confirmation the Blue Oval is also developing an all-new small ute based on the Focus platform.

More immediately and perhaps more importantly for those who lusted after a V6-powered Ranger Raptor, the smart-looking 2021 Ford Ranger is odds-on to score the Amarok’s class-leading six-cylinder diesel power as part of the first Ford-VW joint-venture project.