Torque to the hand

TALK ABOUT A HARD ACT TO FOLLOW. HERE’S WHAT TO EXPECT FROM THE LONG-AWAITED FORD RANGER V6

- ANDY ENRIGHT

It’s often said that you learn more from failure than success. If that’s indeed the case, there was every chance that the 2022 Ford Ranger could have ended up as the difficult second album. Yes there were Rangerbadged pickups before the debut of the 2011 PX version of the T6 Ranger, but that was the first Ford-led ground-up version of the Ranger. More than a decade and a couple of facelifts after its launch, it still felt fresh, besting all of its rivals in Wheels’ Ute Megatest last year.

Eleven years on sale is quite an innings and it’s likely that this second-generation T6, or the P703 in Fordspeak, will be around for an equally long time. Those vaguely competent at arithmetic will realise that this will take it beyond the date that pure internal combustion engined vehicles will be banned from certain markets, so some capacity for electrification is clearly required.

The success of the last Ranger also served to alter expectations. Ford Australia punched well above its weight in developing the PX Ranger, but this second-gen T6 will go to 180 world markets. The outgoing vehicle was, in 2021, Australia’s second best-selling dual-cab ute after the Toyota Hilux and third bestselling vehicle overall, even as it approached run-out. Big boots to fill, then.