What does Ford have planned for the next Ranger?

A new Ford Ranger designed specifically for the Thai market will be officially unveiled later this month, according to Edmunds. However, this model will not come to the U.S. market, the report says. A Ford official admitted that the the Thai Ranger is "much better" than the U.S. version currently on sale. However, the source also said Ford had no plans to update the Ranger in the United States. Pictured right is a spy shot of the new Thai Ranger, which is based heavily on the 4-Trac Concept shown late last year. Last week, we cited an MPH report indicating Ford would kill the Ranger line entirely in the U.S. in 2008. Based on both reports, we suspect Ford might kill off the Ranger nameplate in the U.S., and replace it with an entirely new pickup. However, the MPH report suggested that the market for small pickups was shrinking, and a replacement might not be needed.