Ford Reportedly Confirms The Ranger Raptor Won’t Come To America

The Ford F-150 Raptor has been a huge hit for the automaker and this helped to spawn a Ranger Raptor for international markets.

With Ford finally bringing the Ranger back to the United States, there has been plenty of speculation about whether or not the Ranger Raptor will come along for the ride. Unfortunately, that doesn’t appear to be the case as Autoblog is reporting the vehicle line director for Ford Performance said it’s not feasible.

As Hermann Salenbauch explained, the Ranger Raptor is based on the international version of the pickup and making it comply with US regulations would take too long and cost too much money.

Salenbauch didn’t go into too many specifics, but one of the biggest challenges likely involves swapping out the truck’s twin-turbo 2.0-liter four-cylinder diesel engine – which produces 210 hp (213 PS / 156 PS) and 368 lb-ft (500 Nm) of torque – for a petrol engine. Not only would the engine need to be replaced, but it would also have to be more powerful than the 2.3-liter EcoBoost four-cylinder which is the only engine offered in America.

Another issue Salenbauch mentioned is that the Ranger Raptor was designed for markets where the F-150 Raptor isn’t popular or available. That isn’t the case in America where consumers can’t wait to get their hands on the truck.

While Salenbauch didn’t mention it, the decision not to offer the Ranger Raptor in America probably also involved price and demand. The model would undoubtedly cost more than the Ranger Lariat 4×4 which starts at $36,210 and quickly climbs to $40,000 when equipped with a few options such as the FX4 Off-Road package.

The Ranger Raptor also had the potential to steal some sales away from the F-150 Raptor, so that probably worked against it as well.