Posted on 12/13/2011 5:57:25 AM PST by Behind Liberal Lines
The government's pending (2016) 35.5 MPG CAFE fuel economy requirements -- which for the first time apply to trucks as well as passenger cars -- are going to make it very difficult for any automaker to sell trucks in volume in this country.
Ford has just dropped the compact-size Ranger from its U.S. model lineup -- making it the first CAFE casualty -- and I predict that larger trucks are on the endangered species list now, too....
Even a small truck with a four-cylinder engine will have a hard time averaging 35.5 MPG....
(Excerpt) Read more at spectator.org ...
The upside is you have to buy new, and usually you'll buy something made by union thugs.
CAFE is BS, but I’m pretty sure Ford dropped the Ranger due to poor sales.
It is smaller than the F150, is less powerful, has less towing capacity, gets worse fuel mileage, and yet costs MORE than a comparably equipped F150.
People were avoiding it in droves.
So now if a guy needs a truck for moving an occasional load, he will have to have a larger truck with lower mileage. This will sure help lower fuel usage. /s
Wait until this info seeps down to Bubbaland.
Say goodbye to blue collar guys Democrats.
Everyone who wants a truck & would have been content with the more economical Ranger is now going to get an F-150.
Morons vote Democrat.
I have a '99 Ranger. It still runs.
Ford refused to spend a nickle on upgrading the Ranger while Toyota and Nissan sales continue up and to the right.
The Ranger is made at the St. Paul, Minnesota plant which is very, very old.
I agree, but there are many others who voted for this crap as well. Gubermint bureaucrats and their green butt-buddies putting grubs and snails ahead of humans.
If someone does manage to make a truck capable of 35 MPG, the next gubermint smackdown will be about the safety. After all, the body will have to be cardboard, and the frame plastic.
The upside is you have to buy new, and usually you’ll buy something made by union thugs.
$crew the Unions, I proudly drive a Toyota Tacoma
Put a diesel engine in that Ford Ranger and it’ll probably reach that standard.
I don’t understand why the automakers are not introducing the high torque, low displacement turbo charged diesels in trucks by now...The large trucks by now could be getting 28-32 mpg if they were to put these in...
I think the diesels will eventually get here...but a lot longer than they should...
If it hadn't helped Ford meet the truck CAFE calculations, it would have died long ago because it was a tin can roller skate.
Just took a peak at www.fueleconomy.gov.
Can’t see why anyone would go with a Ranger when the F150 is clearly better......probably why Ford is phasing it out.
Given the choice, I’d go with the F150 any time. More power, hauling capacity, etc.
IIRC, the Ranger is all new for 2012 and will be being sold elsewhere in the world - just not here.
With CAFE, the real tragedy is that as the manufacturer turns out more efficient models, we tend over time to move further from city centers, make decisions to take jobs further from work, thereby driving more miles.
We have a history to observe, the first round of CAFE caused just this phenomenon, such that we drive our vehicles some 35% more today than in 1977. This erases the benefit of producing more efficient vehicles. The cost per mile actually goes down, in aggregate.
In which alternative universe can you increase the conservation of a commodity by making it cheaper to use?
I suppose electric cars will stunt this effect somewhat, but the demand has to be subsidized, because we don’t seem to want electric cars.
CAFE feels good, but it doesn’t even work toward its primary goal of conserving liquid fuel.
I had forgotten about these idiotic CAFE standards, but this is stunning. 90% of the productivity in this country relies on trucks. WTF are these people up to? The standards they have set are impossible to meet if you want to do some real work (heavy hauling, towing) with your vehicle. Think about all the long-haul truckers. Bad enough that fuel prices are through the roof. Now, you have to mortgage your house, if you still have one, to buy a truck.
The people on the top floor of the Ford building are not idiots. They've crunched the numbers. They see the future. There is none for the Ranger -- and soon, bigger trucks, too. Bet your bippie GM and Chrysler are hip, too.
I predict it's all over for trucks as mass-market vehicles.
We just don't realize it yet.
See this thread: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2819299/posts
The Ranger was completely redesigned for 2012 and now comes with a 4 cylinder diesl and 6 speed manual or automatic.
Ford is still going to produce it and sell it (and compete with other manufactures in that market) all over the world - just not here.
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