There are two vehicles that have been revived recently that have left me perplexed at their timing and construction. They are the Ford Ranger and the Toyota Supra. While I am not opposed to them being in production, the logic behind them seems weak.
The Ranger has grown up since the last time it was built. As the ever-popular American market continues to purchase pickup trucks and SUV’s, Ford revived the Ranger to possible help solidify more of that market share, complimenting their dominance in the full-size truck segment. What does not make sense is the timing of Ford producing the Ranger. It is basically the European Ranger with tweaks for the US market. But, the life cycle of it is coming to a close quickly since it has already been on sale in Europe for a number of years now. It really seems strange that Ford would bring the Ranger to the US as a “new” truck, only to potentially do a complete refresh on it in 3 years. Why would anyone want to buy a truck they know is going to only be around for 3 years? Why buy a leftover? To add insult to injury, the 15-year-old Nissan Frontier outsold the Ford Ranger. There are so many things that don’t make sense about Ford selling the Ranger here in the US before the refresh.
When it comes to the Supra, Toyota teamed up with BMW to produce the car. From a financial standpoint it makes sense to team up with a manufacturer, but maybe not on your halo car. Hearing the price range doesn’t seem to register well with the price of what one would think a Toyota should be. Adding to that, the car has been intentionally built without certain performance enhancements simply because Toyota knows the aftermarket world will improve the car. It really sounds quite lazy. I am not against that tactic. To be honest, I think it is brilliant. I wish more companies would do that. What my issue is, is that the car costs so much for what is essentially a watered down BMW Z4 and an expensive, not fully equipped Toyota. With an asking price of over $50,000 for the base model, it does not make sense to me in monetary terms.
The Ford Ranger and Toyota Supra are quite perplexing to me regarding when they returned and how expensive they returned for. Maybe things will make more sense in a few months or years. With the current automotive market climate, it will certainly be entertaining and interesting.
All Out Octane 
Interesting thoughts, but I would still love a Supra and the Ranger is one of the best selling vehicles in Australia.
Thanks. I would still be down for both of them too. I know the Ranger is such a huge success in other countries. That is why I didn’t understand why Ford brought it back here at just about the end of it’s life cycle. And they also claim they are not going to make a Ranger Raptor here, which is also really strange. Again, maybe waiting for the refresh? But I guess Ford is comfortable enough selling F-150’s here in the states and doesn’t care too much about the Ranger here, which is quite a shame. It deserves more love and attention here, especially since you say it is one of the best selling vehicles in Australia! 🙂