Ford Exec Doesn’t Believe There’s a Market for a V-6 Ranger Raptor

There’s no denying that the Ford Ranger Raptor is cool. It’s everything we love about the F-150 Raptor in a smaller package. And while it’s not currently available in the U.S., there’s a good chance we’ll get it after the regular Ranger goes on sale. Initially, we assumed the North American version would drop the 2.0-liter diesel engine in favor of something larger and more powerful, but according to the latest report, that may not be the case.

Speaking to Australia’s CarAdvice, Trevor Worthington, Ford’s head of development for the Asia Pacific region, said he doesn’t believe there’s a market for a Ranger Raptor with a gasoline or diesel V-6. His reasoning? Most Ranger buyers prefer a small-displacement diesel engine.

“Well, we haven’t looked at that one,” Worthington said when asked about a V-6 option, “because as I’ve said this morning, the vast majority of the 200 markets that we sell Ranger, and when I say a vast majority I mean 99 percent are all diesel markets,” he said. “It’d be like turning up with something that people wouldn’t even consider buying.”

When asked if a V-6 would even fit, Worthington kept his answer vague. “The job always was, what’s the best diesel power pack that we can find, balanced across all the attributes, that’s going to work in all of those markets and with all kinds of people,” he said. “This customer with this particular utility is looking for a certain level of outcome related to performance, related to fuel economy; we are convinced that this is the right solution, transmission, and engine power pack. I think the only V-6 diesel that we have is a 3.0-liter V-6 and I’m pretty sure it wouldn’t fit even if we tried to make it fit.”

Those answers may be disappointing for those of us who were hoping Ford would give the Ranger Raptor its 2.7-liter twin-turbo V-6, but it’s also important to remember that Worthington is the head of product development for a region with different needs than we have in North America. It’s entirely possible that the U.S.-spec Ranger Raptor could get a V-6 that isn’t offered in the Asia Pacific region. Ford could also decide not to sell the Ranger Raptor here at all.

But if it does come to the U.S. with only a 2.0-liter diesel engine, we have a feeling it’s going to be a hard sell, even with 210 hp and 369 lb-ft of torque.

Source: CarAdvice

The post Ford Exec Doesn’t Believe There’s a Market for a V-6 Ranger Raptor appeared first on Motor Trend.

from Motor Trend https://ift.tt/2LKIgbK