Pretoria - The new Ford Ranger was revealed to much fanfare earlier this week, and well-heeled bakkie fans are no doubt looking forward to the new V6 turbodiesel variant that has been promised.
Of course Ford also announced that the current single- and twin-turbo 2.0-litre turbodiesel motors would soldier on with some improvements - which makes sense because they are still very modern. But the company also stated that the current 3.2-litre and 2.2-litre turbodiesels would fall away completely.
But will the departure of the 2.2-litre diesel, which is the lifeblood of the current lower-end Ranger line-up, lead to the entry price of the new Ford Ranger being much higher? Thankfully this doesn’t appear to be the case.
During the reveal ceremony this week, a Ford spokesperson said that the new engine range would cover the “full bandwidth” of today’s line-up, while still looking after cost-conscious customers.
Ford has not yet disclosed any power or torque figures for the new Ranger, however we do know that the single-turbo version of the 2.0-litre diesel will be offered in two output variants. Given that the current single-turbo motor produces 132kW and 420Nm, putting it into contention with mid-range bakkies, it is likely that the more powerful of the two single-turbos will be somewhere in that ballpark, while the less powerful version should fall within the bandwidth of the current 2.2-litre motor, which is currently offered in 88kW/285Nm and 118kW/385Nm guises. Dare we suggest an output of around 110kW to directly take on the 2.4-litre Hilux.
At the other end of the spectrum, the V6 diesel is likely to produce something in the region of the 186kW and 600Nm offered by the US-market F-150 diesel. However, these figures could change slightly as Ford says it has adapted this motor to suit the requirements of Ranger customers.
Hybrid powertrains on the way too
During the reveal, Ford all but confirmed that hybrid models would be introduced at a later stage. Ford said it looked at customer trends over the next decade and adapted the platform to different technologies in order to future-proof it.
At this stage it’s unclear whether these hybrid powertrains would pair with petrol or diesel motors. It’s also not certain whether South Africa would receive any of these hybrid models, although given that Europe is the biggest export for the South African-built Ranger, we would bet our bottom dollar on these electrified bakkies at least being built in Silverton.