The word in my industry is a new Transit connect is coming out. Pretty sure this isn't a truck.
The word in my industry is a new Transit connect is coming out. Pretty sure this isn't a truck.
A Transit connect isn't a truck??? Not a pickup truck true.
Just give us a damn mini-truck. What happens repeatedly is that the product planners go for SUVs with the back cut off. Now don't get me wrong. I drive a Ridgeline and love it. But I've owned and driven trucks for 40 years now and my favorite still was my old Toyota single-cab SR5 V6. It didn't handle like a sports car, but it was powerful, nimble, had awesome visibility - more so than most sports cars, was very useful, and could be slid around gravel roads like a rally car.
The problem is A - they don't sell that well, and B - Ford needs upsell opportunities so they can increase their profit margins over a base pickup. But it seems to me that if they can make multiple versions of a van, a single-cab pickup and a double-cab pickup on the same platform, they don't have to sell zillions of the things.
DO IT!!!!!!!
In reply to dculberson :
But looking at the numbers IanF provided the Ridgeline sales only hit 40k for the first 3 years. Remaining 10 years of sales probably average around 20k...
Appleseed said:Hey, remember the Baja? That thing sold millions.
I can't forget them. I own one. It sucks.
RacetruckRon said:Just cut the back off.
This is not helping dissuade my poor life choices...
I mean, surely enough bad choices eventually make a win, right?
(Edit: Anyone else want to see 280zx saloon?)
Naaaaa not a saloon but a 280zx Ute would be fun. 
I am smack dab in the middle of the baby Ranger/Santa Cruz demographic. I need something that gets good gas mileage, isn't huge and doesn't cost $50k but still has some utility.
Since those two vehicles don't exist yet, I bought a 4 year old Transit Connect Van.
It's rated at 29mpg highway, isn't twelve yards long and two lanes wide, tows 2k lbs, has about 1600lbs cargo capacity and might fit in my garage.
Sadly, it does not smell like steak.
BEHOLD THAT SEXINESS BEFORE YOU
In reply to CarKid1989 :
Well, seeing as the average household income in the US is (don’t kill me this is all memory) around $50k, and the standard car bought is nearing $40k... we’ll lets just say there’s plenty of people who seem to not care.
dean1484 said:Naaaaa not a saloon but a 280zx Ute would be fun.
Sorry, brain fart... *shooting brake*
Anything I would consider would have to have a bed with internal dimension of at least 49 inches and at least 6 feet long with a two foot tail gate so, when folded down, I can haul 4 x 8 plywood or sheetrock. I can do this with my old Ranger by putting some 2 x 6 transverse in the bed to so the 4 x 8 clears the wheel well and I made a little platform to sit on the tail gate to hold up the trailing edge of the sheetrock. I have had 20 sheets on my Ranger with no problem.
mazdeuce - Seth said:In reply to Appleseed :
That's because it was a four door and hence useless. They would have sold like hotcakes with a single cab and all the STi goodies. That's my theory anyway.
Hey, remember the BRAT? That thing sold millions.
I realize that those are artist renderings and a "leaked" CAD but is it too much to ask for car designers to come up with something that isn't so contemporarily bloated? I'm not the new car market but I will need a new-to-me used car in the future and these bloated, blind-spot bespeckled things are not giving me a warm and fuzzy feeling about my future options.
As for a mini-truck, maybe they could offer something Ranger-sized now that the Ranger is F150-sized and the F150 is the size of a camper van. I used to have a Dakota and I liked it a lot, it was the right size for what I needed. It's a faux-active CUV market right now but I think Ford might be surprised at the number of people who don't need a truck sized to stroke their ego.
I HATE, HATE, HATE the design trend of creating lots of unnecessary hood volume coupled with a high beltline on trucks. It's obviously what the automakers thinks sells, but to me it is to clean design what some duded up line dancer is to real cowboys.
Yech!:
YES!
Error404 said:I realize that those are artist renderings and a "leaked" CAD but is it too much to ask for car designers to come up with something that isn't so contemporarily bloated? I'm not the new car market but I will need a new-to-me used car in the future and these bloated, blind-spot bespeckled things are not giving me a warm and fuzzy feeling about my future options.
As for a mini-truck, maybe they could offer something Ranger-sized now that the Ranger is F150-sized and the F150 is the size of a camper van. I used to have a Dakota and I liked it a lot, it was the right size for what I needed. It's a faux-active CUV market right now but I think Ford might be surprised at the number of people who don't need a truck sized to stroke their ego.
Kreb (Forum Supporter) said:I HATE, HATE, HATE the design trend of creating lots of unnecessary hood volume coupled with a high beltline on trucks. It's obviously what the automakers thinks sells, but to me it is to clean design what some duded up line dancer is to real cowboys.
Yech!:
YES!
Most car and light truck design is dictated by the regulations imposed by the government and not what the manufacturers want or think we want. The high belt line is dictated by side impact regs. The big bulbous hood is the result of pedestrian impact regulations. If people want to bash new car and truck designs they need to start with the government and its legislation of safety requirements in to cars and light trucks. I am sure you would have the auto manufacturers backing (probably not publicly) if you want to go on that crusade.
This is why people buy half ton pick up trucks with V8s and towing capacities they don't need. You can't put a bicycle in the bed of that thing. 2 bales of hay? Nope. It's an open air trunk.
These won't sell then America keeps buying halftons and manufacturers again say America doesnt want a small truck although they are building something without listening to what people actually want a truck for..
Make a modern 620 long bed that is easy to load and you can put some plywood and dirtbikes in it. Make a 4 door one. Make a 4wd one that is only slightly taller. Do whatever but dont change the shape or usefullness of this design.
dean1484 said:Most car and light truck design is dictated by the regulations imposed by the government and not what the manufacturers want or think we want. The high belt line is dictated by side impact regs. The big bulbous hood is the result of pedestrian impact regulations. If people want to bash new car and truck designs they need to start with the government and its legislation of safety requirements in to cars and light trucks. I am sure you would have the auto manufacturers backing (probably not publicly) if you want to go on that crusade.
It makes no sense. Are you telling me that the government is telling the automakers that their rear bumpers have to be so high that practically any car hitting it from the back will submarine under? Are you saying that the fed is telling Ford that their trucks need to have a hood higher than comparable vans of a similar weight? Telling GM that their beltlines have to be 18 inches higher than a cars? I understand crumple zones and such, but the upper part of the grille/hood isn't what's generally going to take the impact anyway. Same with side protection. Until I see the regs, I'm thinking that this is mainly styling driven.
With Ford’s current launch record, that rumored 2023 model ought to hit the showrooms around 2028
In reply to dean1484 :
I think there's more IIHS crap in cars than NHTSA. They crash way more cars than the government does, and then bases your rates on how many things are in the car.
just like the new hyundai santa cruz looked good in concepts but is just going to be generic like the ridgeline.
Back to the top with more disappointment for me
https://www.caranddriver.com/ford/maverick
Seems there is still no market for a new compact truck with a regular cab, 6ft box, and a manual trans
In reply to gumby (Forum Supporter) :
Its so berkeleying big. Why is it so big?
No 2 door? Looks like my money will remain safely in my pocket. I want more cargo space, not people space.
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