We’ve known via the UAW and numerous rumors over the past few years that the Ford Ranger pickup and the Ford Bronco SUV will make their triumphant return to the American market. But now the news comes straight from the Blue Oval: The Ranger will arrive in 2019 and the Bronco a year later, in 2020. Both vehicles are confirmed for production in Michigan at Ford?s Wayne assembly plant, with production of the Ranger beginning in late 2018 and the Bronco at some undetermined point after that.
Both the Ranger and the Bronco will be body-on-frame vehicles, and they are expected to share platforms and powertrains. The mid-size Ranger pickup most likely will be an updated version of the current Ranger pickup sold globally (which is shown in our photo gallery), with new engines, transmissions, and revised styling for our market. Details on the Bronco are a bit fuzzier, but Ford does say that it’ll be a ?no-compromise mid-size 4×4 utility for thrill seekers who want to venture way beyond the city.? Translation: It?ll directly compete with the Jeep Wrangler. We?re holding out hope that the Ranger, like General Motors? mid-size pickups, will offer a diesel engine here; the global Ranger offers the same 3.2-liter five-cylinder turbo-diesel that’s optional in the U.S.-market Transit van. An EcoBoost gasoline four-cylinder is likely to be the base engine in both the Ranger and the Bronco, with a naturally aspirated gasoline V-6 available as an option. We a...