This Is Why Ford "Gave Up" On The Ranger & Sport Trac

[EddieS'04]

The reason the ST was discontinued was because Ford only sold around 4,000 of them in 2010.

It was on the chopping block before 2010.

IMO, the proper advertising. Showing the Sport Tracs ability being different from a ranger or f-150. I can think of many different ads, that would catch the publics eye. Offering the new line of motors also. I believe it will sell..

Ford wants the public in the larger profit margin F-150.

If fuel cost stays above the common workers cost of living. I forsee that f-150 along with other full size brands, lost again to the comercial world. Despite the new mpg.



The xlt plaque will be replaced with a "WT" plaque. Can you say "work truck". Until then they will suck every last penny from the american public. Until no one wants a full size anymore. The coming cafe standards will have such a heavy guzzler tax. It will be 35% of the retail price.

Then they will be playing catch up to the foriegn markets, smaller trucks.

 

[Tyler Fields]

So somewhere I read Ford planned on bringing back the F100 and/ or the Bronco... was this a lie? lol.



Where I live (Rural IN) there are no mid-sized trucks and only 4 sport tracs in my county (that i know of). However, when u drive to the Purdue University campus, there are so many rangers and ST's it's unreal. And I dont see any on dealer lots or for sale!



I think Ford will play out having no mid-sized trucks for a few years then bring back the ranger or something similar to compete with GM's s-10 and the Dakota

 

[Johnny O]

The Ford dealer I use has for the last several years been loaded with F-150's and had few if any Rangers on the lot. When I got my Trac they only had two, mine and a Limited that was way out of my price range.

The other thing is that the Ranger's (and ST) fuel economy wasn't really any better than an F-150 unless you got a 4-banger, but the room, cargo, and towing capacity were much less.

 

[blksn8k]

I think "gave up" is a better explanation than saying it was because their small/midsize trucks didn't sell very well. Why would sales fall? Gee, let's see, you haven't updated the Ranger styling or chassis or drivetrains significantly since the 1993 model year, you NEVER advertised the 2nd gen Sport Trac....:sad:

 

[blksn8k]

Oh, and for those who say the 2nd gen ST is useless off-road have you ever driven one off-road? I do every hunting season and it goes everywhere I need it to. Tires make a huge difference. I have been running the same BFG All-Terrain T/As in 265/65/18 since the day I bought it new and even after 56,000 miles it works just fine. I've even got scratches to prove it. :grin:



As for it not being a real truck, BS, I also tow an 18 foot enclosed car trailer and it does that just fine too. Let's see you try that with your four-door Ranger. :cry:

 

[TrainTrac]

Oh, and for those who say the 2nd gen ST is useless off-road have you ever driven one off-road?

Indeed. Just ask Dave Turner.

 

[Doctor CAD]

Oh, and for those who say the 2nd gen ST is useless off-road have you ever driven one off-road? I do every hunting season and it goes everywhere I need it to. Tires make a huge difference. I have been running the same BFG All-Terrain T/As in 265/65/18 since the day I bought it new and even after 56,000 miles it works just fine. I've even got scratches to prove it.



As for it not being a real truck, BS, I also tow an 18 foot enclosed car trailer and it does that just fine too. Let's see you try that with your four-door Ranger.

I could do both of those things with my Mazda Tribute (off-roading during hunting season and towed a 19' bass boat) and I still don't consider it a truck.



Real trucks have frames and suspended axles, but that's only my opinion.

 

[H D]

Growing up, we used a Dodge Caravan for the things you listed. If you go fast enough through anything, you might just make it across. Hell, we could stack both of our seasons' limits in the rear of that thing. Maybe it's a more capable hunting vehicle than my ST.:bwahaha:



Tires make a big difference, true. But from the sounds of it, you would admit that a Ford Escape (similar setup as a Gen2 ST), is just as capable given similar tires. I don't think so.



My wife has a Tahoe 4x4 on 33" BFG all terrains. It is NOT as capable off road as my ST. I can say that for a fact, because I have used both vehicles on the same trails, in similar conditions and the ST outperformed.



Btw, everyone eventually gets stuck somewhere at some point if they are really off road (not just crunching leaves). What are you going to attach a tow strap to on the front of a Gen2?



As for Dave Turner's ST: I've seen 1000hp Civics. I don't use that as evidence that Civics are good drag cars.

 

[Phill R]

I waited alot of years for a mid size truck with four doors. Now, I will just have to make sure it lasts.

As much as I might like an F150, It is more truck than I need and where I live and work, more than I have room for.

I love my ST more!



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[Carlos Chio]

My Trac has done everything I have asked it to. I have a feeling Ford will lose some of it's customers to other companies if/when they don't produce a vehicle similar to our beloved ST.



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[Carlos Chio]

My Trac has done everything I have asked it to. I have a feeling Ford will lose some of it's customers to other companies if/when they don't produce a vehicle similar to our beloved ST.



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[Carlos Chio]

Sorry for the double posts. I have no clue what is going on with my computer.

 

[Ray Muratore]

Phill R,

Where in SI are you? I think I've seen your truck before... I'll got the Silver 2010 STA trolling around with SCUBA dive flag on my hitch plug.



I was actually looking at an F-150 for quite some time before falling to the ST.. IN fact, the ST wasn't in my play book pretty much until the day I bought it. I have wanted a bigger bed - ideally 5.5-6 feet like the Frontier, BUT I wanted a decent backseat. The Adrenalin pkge sold me on the ST and I couldn't be happier. With that said, I understand why Ford is doing what they are doing... The ST doesn't work on the new Explorer platform anymore; it's to much a big car now. Its a FWD platform with AWD option. That's not what we want an ST on. Let than 10,000 cars sold of a model isn't really profitable for them. Heck, They produced more Shelby's last year than they did ST's... and the Shelby is supposedly "exclusive."



We here are ST enthusiasts, however the ST is not one of Ford's "icon" vehicles. That's the F-150, the Mustang, Explorer (as an SUV) and a mid-size sedan (some points in life that was Taurus, now it's more Fusion). (I'm only looking at Consumer right now... SuperDuty and E series have a different place in commercial land)



Those are the cars that Ford looks at with a "What do we have to do to make these sell" mentality. Other cars are around as long as they sell well. When they drop, Ford will move on. For Ranger and the ST (which was a variant on the Explorer) there wasn't a good enough ROI. (Personally, I don't think the ST would have worked on the new Explorer platform - They cut max towing to 5,000lbs for one thing). They wouldn't have gotten the ROI they needed to make R&D on RWD or 4WD with elongating the wheelbase to get a 4-5 foot bed while keeping the rear seat room. At least, not for less than 10,000 ST's sold in a year. The platform change (combined with the push on the F-150) killed the ST... F-150 with a kick-ass v6 killed Ranger.



I will keep my STA for as long as I can... If the motor goes, I will be putting a new one in.. Question is a nice beefy V8 again or mod her for an Ecoboost. Maybe by that time in life, For will have an Ecoboost V8 available... 500HP AND 27MPG... hahahaha



I can dream.

 

[Dreman]

Does anyone remember the original Sport Trac TV ads, the "essential equipment" ads? Now, how many of you have seen any gen2 ads? Now how many F150 ads have you seen?



Ford didn't sell any 2010 ST's because Ford didn't advertise them.