I think part of the problem is there's no competition from other makers, so I guess these auto makers feel that if no one else is doing it, there must not be a market; seems like a nasty cycle. We've been teased with more diesels (what the rest of the world gets) for years, from the diesel Tundra that's "coming out in 2007" to the diesel Surbaru Legacy that's "going to be released in 2008," I wish they would gain some ground and get those damn hybrids out of my fast lane...

 

My theory is Ford believes they would lose some serious if not catastropic looses to the F-150 and of course F-250 gas or diesel sales if this smaller fuel efficient vehicle was released here.. Again, just a thought. If it was intereduced here I'd consider it, shoot, I'm considering a TDI now..

 

will just put it in the 150. that would do better than no fix.

 

Gas 2 | Bridging the gap between green heads and gear heads.


i signed it already. we shoud have one of our own hell id like to buy just the powertrain and dump it in on of my fords NOW!

 

Now that the 2015 f150 is getting aluminum body panels and shedding weight, I'd say thats the absolute last nail in the coffin for the ranger.

With the new f150 being *apparently* a touch smaller, it's over. The overseas ranger was apparently only 10% smaller than the current f150, so theres no way they'd ever bring in trucks that are like 3% or 5% smaller.

If there ever is a smaller diesel truck ever again, I'd have to imagine it would be based off the transit connect chassis, or a brand new design thats significantly smaller than the 2015 f150.

 

ford better take a good look at what is coming from other brands, chevy's new Colorado will have a 2.8 4 banger dmax. the Nissan frontier will have a 2.8 cummins. Toyota tundra and Nissan titan both will be getting the 5.0L v8 cummins.
then there are some rumors that Toyota may be bringing the hino powered Tacoma state side where it has been over seas for a very long time.

 

VW / Audi are proud of selling 100,000 diesel powered cars last year.
Consider that the passenger cars are fitting a niche group of people who want maximum MPG out of their vehicle.
A small diesel truck, will not get 40-50 MPG, so it will not fit that need.

I think that if anyone has the market experience, it's VW, and if they saw the opportunity, they would have bitten.
Remember the mahindra pickup? It was a 1/4 ton diesel supposed to be imported here from india, and when the exhaust aftertreatment junk got bolted on, EPA rated it at 21 MPG highway.

Diesel fuel is always going up in price.

It seems like totally the wrong time to get into the diesel market.

Medium duty truck makers are looking at gas options.

 

45 years as a vw audi tech and know them inside and outside. those vw diesels have been around the usa since 1978 starting as a 1.5l .


hd wise there is a name known as MAN very big in marine, vw owns the company http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MAN_SEhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkswagen_Group

 

And that old diesel pick up was great for what it was. Should bring it back with the TDI version.

 

vw has it in Europe. under the name Amarok http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkswagen_Amarok and we may see it here
Report: Volkswagen mulls pickup trucks for U.S.

 

New vehicles are being made that use different types of fuel.

I'd love a small diesel pickup as well as my F350. Even now it is a big pain to go to parking garages with a long bed F350 4x4 and park it...

I did own a VW TDI and it got way more MPG than it was rated for 32 in the City and 57 MPG was the best on the highway.

 

not uncommon as vw seems to play safe and under rate the test results to read what a heavy footed driver would get, personally as a sm and dsm I had demo's that got real world almost 50 results

 

I really like my 1999 F350 power stroke and 2004 Explorer Limited. With the price of fuel now I just bought my first non-ford in a long time. A 2014 VW Passat TDi. I am getting about 50 MPG US average over 1200 miles. If I could by a Ford diesel car or explorer I would have done so without hesitation.
Bob Bates

 

I think people seem to forget that the reason those little VW cars get so much MPG has more to do with the car, than the engine. Even the gas powered ones are getting great mileage.

Just cause you put a 1.6 liter diesel in a ranger, wouldn't mean it's going to get 45 mpg like the VW cars.

 

No, but it will get 30 without breaking a sweat. I know a fairly large boxy TD vehicle will get good mileage if driven for it, I had an 87 Trooper II Turbo D that on more than one occasion turned in over 40mpg. This was on an extended trip on two lanes running around 50, but to do 600miles on a tank was something. My old Toyota had better aerodynamics, yet driven the same could barely scratch 30. The Trooper would suck down the fuel and turn it into black smoke pretty quick if I wanted it to, but even in normal driving I saw high 20s.
As far as a diesel Ranger- too late for me. And I'll have the money to buy this year.