Nope. 2019's Ranger doesn't appear to be much smaller than an F-150.
Posted on 04/07/2018 9:56:30 AM PDT by upchuck
After a century of ferrying millions of daily commuters and taking countless family road trips, simple passenger cars are disappearing from American life, and they may not come back.
Detroit's Big Three automakers — Chrysler, Ford and General Motors — pioneered the mass production of the car, but in just four years, all three may be known to Americans simply as truck and SUV makers, with only a stray sedan for sale.
The automotive industry in America is making what many observers think is an irrevocable shift toward pickup trucks, sport utility vehicles and crossovers. While carmakers are producing sedans and sports cars that are safer, faster and more comfortable than ever, customers continue to flock to taller vehicles with features cars simply cannot offer.
"Since 2009 or 2010 it has been a truck story," said Jeff Schuster, senior vice president of forecasting at LMC Automotive, which tracks the auto industry. The exception was a slight pullback in 2012, when the midsize car segment underwent a major refresh, he said.
The trend shows no sign of abating, despite cries from car enthusiasts that crossovers lack the driving dynamics of sedans and complaints from environmentalists that SUVs and trucks are typically less fuel-efficient than cars.
By 2022, LMC Automotive estimates 84 percent of the vehicles General Motors sells in the U.S. market will be some kind of truck or SUV. Ford's ratio of domestic SUV and truck sales will hit 90 percent; Fiat Chrysler's will notch a whopping 97 percent.
"We have SUVs eventually crossing the 50 percent threshold by themselves in the near future," Schuster said.
Signs suggest SUVs and crossovers are also taking hold elsewhere in the world.
Automotive executives and industry watchers think there will be only a small space for sedans in the U.S., perhaps consisting mostly of sports cars or niche vehicles favored by enthusiasts.
A few factors that drove this unprecedented shift can be attributed to gas prices, a stronger economy and big improvements in the design of sport utility vehicles, said Karl Brauer, executive publisher at Cox Automotive.
"It was really a one-two-three punch," Brauer said. "Essentially every force lined up to help SUVs, and that has been hurting car sales."
More at the link.
Wow....hot Mama!
I hear ya. I rode in a friend’s Suburu recently. Had to do yoga to get in...
Thanks to Trump and Pruitt, tough emissions rules are being tossed.
Zoom zoom!
They need to get rid of all CAFE standards. There is no need for them anymore as we have plenty of oil now. Get completely rid of them and see how radically different the American cars built would be in a short time.
The article says that the Ford Taurus is being discontinued.
“I think it is the stupid CAFE standards that screwed our cars up more than anything else.”
Very true. The CAFE standards didn’t apply to light trucks and SUVs initially. We used to purchase three-seat station wagons for our growing family, but CAFE put those vehicles out of business. So we switched to SUVs about 15 years ago, because they are safer by far, are much more comfortable, and in our case buying several Chevrolet Avalanches, we have a luxury pick up capability as well. With their LS engines, these vehicles run a couple hundred thousand miles easily. They are 4 wheel drive so we can go skiing or haul debris off of our hillside property. And at the end of the day, the convenience outweighs the fuel bills for us. Just wish GM would put the Avalanche back into production, because we have one of the last one’s built (2013) and it now has 80,000 miles on it.
Nope. 2019's Ranger doesn't appear to be much smaller than an F-150.
People who shop and shlep want a hatchback ... this is the big thing. I’ve owned “cute utes” for decades now, the small SUVs. Who wants to bend over and put groceries in a trunk? But I don’t see this mentioned.
> I miss the Ford Ranger. Simple, cheap and tough. <
Roger that. I want - and need - a good small truck. So I was eagerly awaiting the new Ford Ranger, due out next year. I say “was” because I’ve since read that the new Ranger will be bigger and fancier than the old one.
In other words, the new Ranger will be just another mid-sized truck.
It’s due to CAFE standards forcing auto makers to produce clown cars like the Prius that only libs and gay/lesbians want.
Most people live in traffic heavy areas these days, no point in having a high performance car just to crawl along behind the next guy.
I could fit one in my garage, but just barely, and eventually I’d scrape something.
Is it a Hellcat?
In fact, I call my Fit the Costco mom car because I can easily configure the car to carry a lot of cargo despite its small size.
My daily driver is a 2015 Tacoma dual cab 4x4. I love it. It's my joy in life.
I used to drive a Corolla when gas was expensive. It was a fun little zippy car but I doubt I'll ever own another sedan again. When the kids get bigger and don't need to be chauffeured around as much, my wife has her eyes on a Mazda CX-5 crossover. Beautiful car.
I always preferred station wagons. practical and cheap to run. difficult to find these days.
2 cross bars on roof and carry a stack of plywood easy on a station wagon.
My workplace has a 1997 Tacoma (214k miles) and a 2002 Ram (320k miles) that I can use anytime for bigger loads.
I’d reccomend getting one of those era Tacoma’s for $3k and maintain it meticulously. It will run 4 ever. terrible MPG but try to drive under 60 and mind gets 34 MPG which is acceptable
The downside of SUVs is they are incredibly dangerous ; roll over in a flash and are too heavy to maneuver ( ie stop ) safely. Plus I simply hate burning money on excess gasoline.
If all sedans didn’t look like a jellybean, that might help too.
Eh. I’m very happy with my old AWD Legacy wagon. Handles far better than any pig of a Crossover.
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