Say good bye to the Ranger, but not for another year: It’s the final curtain call for one of North America’s small-truck icons. The Sleuth has learned that Ford will close the doors of its St. Paul, Minn. plant — which makes the Ford Ranger — at the end of 2009. The Ranger has been around for nearly 15 years in its current form . . . yes, it’s time for a change. Some reports have indicated that the Ranger could continue to be built in Thailand but high tariffs between the United States and Thailand would likely kill any profit. Ford sold 92,000 Rangers in North America last year, a 24-percent drop when compared to the previous year. It’s possible that Ford could entirely abandon the segment, much like it did when it recently killed off the Freestar minivan.
A non-AWD Subaru?: Diehard Subaru drivers, your brand might veer in another direction. To comply with new emissions and fuel-economy standards, Subaru could be forced to offer all-wheel-drive and its tried-and-true horizontally opposed “boxer” engines as available options rather than standard equipment. Both, no matter how good they are, are apparently viewed as hindrances to Subaru meeting new fuel-economy targets. The Japanese automaker has been making vehicles with standard all-wheel-drive since the 1980s, but its core technology could be in jeopardy. Subaru Australia chairman Trevor Amery said that if the changes were made, it would not be before 2010. “One of the reasons we chose to become an all-wheel-drive company only was so that we wouldn’t confuse people with our message — and these are some of the things that are going to stand us in good stead for some time”.
