Manoli Katakis 
The new 2021 Ford F-150 is launching this year, with tons of segment-first content, Tesla-fighting technology, and a significantly hefty price tag. And by 2022, the T6.2 platform Ford Ranger is expected to roll off the Michigan Assembly line next to the all-new Ford Bronco. In short, there’s plenty to be excited about if you’re into Ford trucks. And farther down the timeline, things could get even more interesting.
According to a report from Australia’s Cars Guide, the successors to both the 14th-generation Ford F-150 and T6.2 Ford Ranger could share a common architecture. The benefits for the Ranger would be the ability to use larger and more powerful engines found in the F-150, while the F-150 wouldn’t be precluded from right hand drive variations straight from the factory. Overall, complexity and cost could be reduced on the back end, but several business factors need to weighed in to determine what Ford will do next. This decision is far from being finalized.
This isn’t the first time an automaker has attempted to consolidate an architecture between their full-size and mid-size offerings. Years back, it was reported that General Motors was exploring the possibilities of unifying its mid-size truck family (Chevrolet Colorado, GMC Canyon) into its full-size truck lineup (Chevrolet Silverado, GMC Sierra, and HD variants). Internal analysis concluded that such an architecture would not be flexible enough, and the venture would have been prohibitive at the time. GM ultimately veered away from that decision.
While that’s just one example from the past, things change, and Ford Motor Company may have found some synergies between its F-150 and Ranger to make this happen. But again, this is based on one report, and with the 2021 Ford F-150 launching this fall, it would be years before such a plan is implemented.
