What Jim Farley Learned About Trucks From a Trip to the Outback (Australia)

[Texasota]

Why would Ford bring low volume and lower margin vehicles (the Ranger Supercab and Ranger Super Duty) to North America at the expense of their highest volume and highest margin vehicles (the F series)? That would not make any financial sense.

Ford is in business to maximize profits and share holder returns. That is how it is suppose to work. All companies have limited resources for product development. You invest those resources in products that maximize returns.

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[Onceaneagle]

Why would Ford bring low volume and lower margin vehicles (the Ranger Supercab and Ranger Super Duty) to North America at the expense of their highest volume and highest margin vehicles (the F series)? That would not make any financial sense.

Ford is in business to maximize profits and share holder returns. That is how it is suppose to work. All companies have limited resources for product development. You invest those resources in products that maximize returns.

Jim Farley has to recoup his $1.4 billion investment in EV, PHEV, and Hybrids, plus eat the failed F150 Lightning as it transforms into a truck version of the Chevy Volt. Ranger sales are not going to fill his coffers. The commercials here show where the money is: F series, Bronco, and occasionally the nontruck urban utility vehicle Maverick. Can't remember seeing a Ranger commercial and when I did it had a Ranger raptor in it. We will see what happens when the Ranger Tremor returns, and when RAM jumps in with the Dakota.

 

[purdyd]

Why would Ford bring low volume and lower margin vehicles (the Ranger Supercab and Ranger Super Duty) to North America at the expense of their highest volume and highest margin vehicles (the F series)? That would not make any financial sense.

Ford is in business to maximize profits and share holder returns. That is how it is suppose to work. All companies have limited resources for product development. You invest those resources in products that maximize returns.

Because every ranger sold is not a F150 not sold

It is a Toyota Tacoma, Nissan Frontier, Chevy Colorado not sold.

They already produce the Ranger world wide and sell quite a few of them so they already are investing those resources.

 

[OxygenMask]

Because every ranger sold is not a F150 not sold

It is a Toyota Tacoma, Nissan Frontier, Chevy Colorado not sold.

They already produce the Ranger world wide and sell quite a few of them so they already are investing those resources.

That .
Plus people might just not buy anything at all if they can't get what they want.
I'm so fed up with manufacturers eliminating models or options to concentrate solely on their top sellers. Cab and bed options in EVERY trim level, MANUAL transmissions (in every trim level too please) DIESELS both small and economical as well as big power. Bring back a la carte options - want ventilated seats? - they come as part of a $5000 pkg of stuff you don't want....

 

[purdyd]

That .
Plus people might just not buy anything at all if they can't get what they want.
I'm so fed up with manufacturers eliminating models or options to concentrate solely on their top sellers. Cab and bed options in EVERY trim level, MANUAL transmissions (in every trim level too please) DIESELS both small and economical as well as big power. Bring back a la carte options - want ventilated seats? - they come as part of a $5000 pkg of stuff you don't want....

I agree with the capability to order a vehicle, I don’t see why those options are not offered,

 

[Texasota]

That .
Plus people might just not buy anything at all if they can't get what they want.
I'm so fed up with manufacturers eliminating models or options to concentrate solely on their top sellers. Cab and bed options in EVERY trim level, MANUAL transmissions (in every trim level too please) DIESELS both small and economical as well as big power. Bring back a la carte options - want ventilated seats? - they come as part of a $5000 pkg of stuff you don't want....

Every company has limited development resources (a.k.a. a budget). If you are the CFO for a company, you invest those limited resources into areas that are going to produce the biggest return for your investment.

Investing limited resources into the development of a Ranger super cab which has proven to sell in very small numbers compared to the super crew is not a good investment. This is why Ford dropped the Ranger super cab.

Investing limited resources into bringing a Ranger super duty to North America which would sell in very small numbers compared to the standard Ranger is not a good investment. It makes total sense in Australia because the Ranger is their equivalent of the F-series.

Investing limited resources into bringing a Ranger diesel to North America which would sell in very small numbers compared to the Ecoboost gas engines is not a good investment. This is exactly why the 3.0 diesel was dropped in the F-150.

Investing limited resources into bringing a Ranger manual transmission to North America which would sell in very small numbers is not a good investment. It only makes sense for enthusiast-focused vehicles like the Bronco and Mustang and those are the only two Ford vehicles in USA where a manual transmission is available.

Ford is in the business to make a profit and that means developing products that sell in volume with healthy margins. Absent that, the company goes out of business. I get that you guys want what you want, but no company can satisfy every possible want given limited resources. Ford must invest where the majority of sales will be. Investing for the minority of sales is the path to bankruptcy.

 

[Texasota]

I agree with the capability to order a vehicle, I don’t see why those options are not offered,

Because it is not sufficiently profitable.

 

[OxygenMask]

So why in years past could they offer broad choice, and still manage to make enormous profits?
Just sayin'

Today they aren't satisfied with billions, they want more. "Maximizing profits" at the expense of consumer satisfaction often backfires, it's why I quit buying Toyotas....

 

[purdyd]

Because it is not sufficiently profitable.

I could maybe see that for a standard transmission, but doesn't the bronco have one already?

The 6' bed supercab is already being sold in the rest of the world

Diesel might be hard push given epa rules but those green house emissions part has been rescinded, for now

so you charge what will make a profit.

remember Ford is the company that discontinued the ranger in North America just a couple of years before mid size pickup sales took off and doubled

And lets not forget the Ford EV strategy

To consider Ford or any manufacturer omniscient would be a big mistake

at some point you have to make products in order to sell them

 

[nullderef]

For the ROW, the Ranger is the truck for the region though right? So it makes sense that it gets more/all of the configuration options. I don't blame Ford for bundling options/trims on the Maverick and Ranger. The Ranger is like a 1/10th of the sales of the F series. The Mav is like a 1/5th.

 

[nappy]

Saying he learned nothing is shortsighted. Did you watch the video? He specifically mentions he's in Australia to "decide the future of our product lineup in Australia." This video to begin with is all about Australia. Ford is worried about competition from Asia (China, Japan, Korea, etc). It's only a matter of time until we see Chinese vehicles in the US market. What he learns about competition in Australia against these companies is what they'll have to apply in some way in the US.

Farley needs to listen to the President more and focus on Ford rather than always commenting that China is coming.

Being that he's a BYD fan (Farely), the Trump administration has imposed a 100% tariff on all Chinese imports, including cars, making it fiscally prohibitive for BYD to sell cars in America.

 

[OxygenMask]

....
remember Ford is the company that discontinued the ranger in North America just a couple of years before mid size pickup sales took off and doubled.....

Or who just cancelled their overwhelmingly best selling vehicle (after the F-series trucks) - the Escape. Then told the screaming dealers to sell people Broncos. Nobody cross shops the Escape with the Bronco Sport. Kia is laughing all the way to the bank...

 

[ShadowDragon24]

Investing limited resources into bringing a Ranger super duty to North America which would sell in very small numbers compared to the standard Ranger is not a good investment. It makes total sense in Australia because the Ranger is their equivalent of the F-series.

Australia has the f150, and f250. But they are capped at 4,500kg towing(9,900Lbs) even tho here in NA they can haul more. the smaller lighter trucks, are easier to park, get around smaller places, etc, and if you go by GVWR you can somwtime haul more. my 2025 ranger. actually has almost the same payload as my coworkers 2023 chevy 1500 with the 3.0 eco diesel in it. Yes he can tow 11-12k Lbs, and I can tow 7500-8k. but our bed payload capacities are almost exact same. if he had the gasser, he have way more payload. for example. they also tax the bigger heavier vehicles more then canada/usa.

Investing limited resources into bringing a Ranger manual transmission to North America which would sell in very small numbers is not a good investment. It only makes sense for enthusiast-focused vehicles like the Bronco and Mustang and those are the only two Ford vehicles in USA where a manual transmission is available.

The manual transmission ranger is already in North America. Mexico get the ROW truck. Left hand drive, all the options.

USA you can get a 4x2 or 4x4, and Canada is 4x4 only.

 

[purdyd]

Or who just cancelled their overwhelmingly best selling vehicle (after the F-series trucks) - the Escape. Then told the screaming dealers to sell people Broncos. Nobody cross shops the Escape with the Bronco Sport. Kia is laughing all the way to the bank...

yes and one of the reasons dealers screamed about it was that the escape brought customers into the dealership and into Ford brand

https://fordauthority.com/2025/12/dealers-fear-ford-escape-owners-will-defect-to-other-brands/#:~:text=Production of the Ford Escape,get people into our brand.

ford is looking at the ranger wrong, it is the gateway for more F150 sales, not the other way around

everything can't be about producing the vehicle with the highest margins which is going to lead to lower total sales

you have to have volume too to amortize your costs, like the CEO's salary or a factory

ford realizes this as do all auto manufacturers because they provide trim levels

 

[Jason B]

Truth be told, if we didn't have the Ranger, I would have gotten an F150, or more likely a Maverick. I have no interest in Gub'ment Motors or a Toyota tax. I have no confidence in Nissan.

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