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By Jimmy Dinsmore Jan 13 2020 - 12:20pm

There’s a Good Reason Why The Ford Ranger Lost Truck of the Year Honors to the Jeep Gladiator

The Ford Ranger lacks pizzazz, off-road ability and wow factor when compared to the Jeep Gladiator. What it makes up for in fuel economy and price, it misses the boat in other areas.
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The Car, SUV and Truck of the Year awards were announced today. These are like the Oscars of the automotive industry. It’s truly an honor to be nominated. In the Truck of the Year segment the three finalists were the Ford Ranger, Ram Heavy Duty and Jeep Gladiator. The Jeep Gladiator received the coveted honor of being named the North American Truck of the Year for 2020.

I’m not a member of the jury that selects the winners, but I will say the jury got it right. The Gladiator was the clear-cut favorite to me over the other two finalists. Honestly, the Ranger should feel honored to have made the cut. And I honestly believe it got there because it was a new truck, but also a known name. What’s old is new again, and that usually resonates with automotive writers (who serve on the jury).

How Does the Ford Ranger Compare to the Jeep Gladiator?
This isn’t an apples to apples comparison at all. Both are considered small truck competitors, but honestly, I don’t perceive either truck attracting the same type of consumer. Realistically the Ranger competes more closely with the segment sales-leading Toyota Tacoma and the General Motors rivals of Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon. Both of the GM models launched a couple years earlier than the Ranger, which relaunched after an 11-year hiatus as a 2019 model year.

As for the award-winning Gladiator, it had a much bigger wow factor than the Ranger. It’s hard to say why exactly, as many Ford enthusiasts were excited to hear about Ford bringing back the Ranger. But yet the Ranger’s debut and launch was rather uneventful, while the Gladiator was the star of the car show circuit and also received a lot of marketing push from FCA. There were commercials for the Gladiator, and while I’m sure there are commercials for Ranger, they weren’t memorable. So, Jeep won the publicity battle over the Ranger, hands down.

In a comparison of the numbers that matter to truck buyers, the Gladiator and Ranger are more comparable. The Gladiator can out-pull the Ranger as the Gladiator has a maximum towing capability of 7,650 pounds. That compares to the 7,500 towing capacity of the Ranger. Albeit, most Ford truck buyers will turn to the F-150 for their recreational vehicle towing rather than the Ranger, it just shows that when it comes to towing, the Gladiator has a slight edge. However, the Ranger wins in two key areas – fuel economy and price.

The Ranger has the efficient 2.3-liter Ecoboost engine that generates 270 horsepower (See Ford 1.0-liter EcoBoost engine shown to TorqueNews as a 123 HP cup holder). Meanwhile the Gladiator has a 3.6-liter V6 engine that edges out the Ranger with an output of 285 hp. The transmissions in both trucks are outstanding. The Ranger’s 10-speed automatic is smooth and outstanding, but so is the 8-speed transmission in the Gladiator. However, the smaller displacement engine of the Ranger optimizes the fuel efficiency with a maximum EPA rating of 21 city and 26 highway. Meanwhile, the Gladiator has an EPA rating of 17 mpg/city and 22 mpg/highway. This old-school type of fuel economy shows that Ford dominates as it relates to fuel efficiency.

2020 Ford Ranger rear view

The almighty dollar rules and the Ranger blows the Gladiator away when it comes to affordability. Jeep is generally overpriced because of the name recognition and frankly the demand. But the Gladiator has prices that start around $40,000 while top-of-the-line Gladiators can surge over $60,000. Meanwhile a basic Ranger starts in the mid $20s and can go up to $40,000. Comparing the interiors is again not an apples to apples comparison, but generally the Gladiator will appeal to die-hard Jeep fans but might turn off others who are new to the Jeep brand. Although the interior of the Ranger isn’t as nice as I had hoped and can’t compare to the more lavish appointment of the F-150.

How Can Ford Improve on The Ranger?
I drove the 2019 Ranger and was underwhelmed. There was no wow factor. It wasn’t memorable. The looks were fine, but it didn’t have enough distinction. It just looked like a slightly smaller F-150. Meanwhile the Gladiator had all the wow factor and was quite memorable. So that’s one thing the Ranger has working against it and is an area Ford needs to focus on. I think they felt just simply bringing back an updated Ranger was enough to satisfy, but I believe Ford misunderstood the competitive zest of this segment.

Also, while the Ecoboost engine is fantastic and I would expect nothing less than for Ford to put a 4-cylinder engine in this smaller truck, I think there would be more appeal if there were another engine option. Dare I dream of a Raptor-type of performance Ranger? I would be really interested in such a truck.

Lastly, and this might be the most important area to improve when compared to the Gladiator. But the Ranger lacks a truly off-road, rugged trim. There is the FX4 trim package that adds a rugged vibe to the Ranger. However, Tacoma has the TRD and that really helps improve their sales and their fan base. Of course the Jeep brand is known as an off-road warrior. But the Ranger lacks anything that can truly take a pounding on mountain roads through mud or over a creek bed. The Raptor is the truck to turn to for that, and certainly the new Bronco will take care of that as well. Perhaps Ford is afraid to interfere with that niche segment and don’t want to cannibalize the future Bronco segment by offering an off-road Ranger. Either way, I think Ford misses an opportunity in this regard to go toe-to-toe with the Gladiator. And for these reasons, the jury got it right when it chose the Gladiator over the Ranger for Truck of the Year.

See you in my next story discussing how the FX2 and FX4 packages make Ford Ranger off-road ready. Also, check this news coverage discussing which engine is better for Ford F-15-: Ecoboost vs Coyote.

Jimmy Dinsmore has been an automotive journalist for more than a decade and been a writer since the high school. His Driver’s Side column features new car reviews and runs in several newspapers throughout the country. In addition to being a nationally syndicated automotive columnist, Jimmy has been published in a compilation book about children growing up with disabilities, where he shared his own very personal experience. He is also co-author of the book “Mustang by Design” and “Ford Trucks: A Unique Look at the Technical History of America’s Most Popular Truck”. Also, Jimmy works in the social media marketing world for a Canadian automotive training aid manufacturing company. Follow Jimmy on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. You can follow most of Jimmy's stories at Torque News Ford coverage. Check back again and search for Torque News Ford Ranger for more Ranger reporting from Torque News.

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Comments

Don wrote on January 13, 2020 - 2:28pm
Small correction request - The Ranger has a towing capacity of 7,500 lbs with the standard 4 cylinder gas engine. 3,500 lbs is the limit if towing from the bumper. One specific version of the Gladiator is the only truck in class that exceeds the Ranger's towing capacity, by 150 lbs.
Jimmy Dinsmore wrote on January 13, 2020 - 4:54pm
Thank you. I have fixed the typo of 3,500 lbs.
DeanMcManis wrote on January 13, 2020 - 2:37pm
The tricky position that Ford is in is making the Ranger attractive, but not so compelling as to steal away more profitable F150 sales. This problem is why the Ranger was first released everywhere else but the U.S. years ago, but then this model finally came here because there was a clear and separate 4-cyl smaller truck market that the F150 was not competing in. I do think that we may see a Raptor Ranger, with say a 365HP V6, that could be profitable for Ford, and improve the Ranger's reputation. In addition to the Gladiator's successful promotions getting it into the spotlight, later this year they will be offering the impressive Eco Diesel engine that was previously only in the RAM truck, and was recently made available for the Wrangler. It has 260HP and a stump-pulling 442TQ. The V6 gas engine with the manual transmission has a lower 4000-4500lb tow rating, but that goes up with the tow package. But that has a 4.11 gear which takes a hit in gas mileage, whereas the Eco Diesel engine has the unique combination of good gas mileage and tons of torque, however you can only get it with the 8-speed auto transmission. VW's "dieselgate" killed off diesel engines for normal passenger cars, but there is still a place for diesel engines in trucks. In addition to the Gladiator, Chevy also offers a 2.8L turbo diesel engine for their Colorado/Canyon. And Ford has been seen testing a turbo diesel engine for the Ranger. Hopefully, Ford will come out with the turbo diesel engine AND the bigger TTV6 for a mini Raptor, and I am even hoping for an EV Ranger as well.
Benoit Venne wrote on January 13, 2020 - 3:35pm
I don’t know where you took your informations about the Ranger but it’s towing capacity are 7500 lb. And TFL Truck did a off-road test Ranger VS Tacoma and the Ranger performances were better than the Tacoma.
Jimmy Dinsmore wrote on January 13, 2020 - 4:29pm
I have corrected the towing capacity update to 7,500 as that is correct. The 3,500 was a typo that has been corrected.
Mark Lally wrote on January 13, 2020 - 5:47pm
The Ranger has a tow rating of 7500 lbs, How could the writer make such an egregious error?
Mark Lally wrote on January 13, 2020 - 6:14pm
The Ranger has a tow rating of 7500 lbs, How could the writer make such an egregious error? Also, the highest tow ratings on the Jeep are only available with the highest trim levels, while the 7500 rating on the Ranger is available with the lowest trim levels.
Jimmy wrote on January 13, 2020 - 11:43pm
That typo was fixed. The tow rating is 7500
Rj wrote on January 14, 2020 - 9:22am
Nearly the entire article supports the idea that the Ranger is superior to the gladiator. So, went was the Ranger passed over? Lack of publicity? That's how Americans spend tens of thousands of dollars nowadays? God help us.
Jimmy Dinsmore wrote on January 14, 2020 - 10:10am
I think it's the lack of a wow factor. The current Ranger was just the European one brought to the US. Ford is working on a new one and to me that's what they should've done for the official relaunch.
Digitaldoc wrote on January 15, 2020 - 12:34pm
Doubt publicity did much here. The Ranger is built on an older platform, sold worldwide for years, and just came to the US more recently. While the engine and tranny are modernized, the steering and suspension are not. Reportedly, a redesign is coming soon. A Raptor version, with a V-6 3.3T from the f-150 would go a long way to getting some excitment going for the product also.
Jimmy Dinsmore wrote on January 15, 2020 - 12:44pm
With some journalists hearing more about it keeps it more on your mind. So when it comes time to vote, that's in your mindset.
Deadarmadillo wrote on January 14, 2020 - 6:59pm
Ford is afraid that the Ranger will take sales away from the f-150, and they’re probably right. The Ranger could have one of Ford’s excellent turbo V-6’s and a more rugged persona. They also should get a diesel (maybe an in line 5 cyl) in it ASAP. Ford, GM, and Chrysler Fup every chance they have so I’m not surprised and will not be surprised when the Gladiator goes down the toilet for the second time. Check out the number of Wranglers for sale at inflated prices in places like Craigslist.
Jimmy Dinsmore wrote on January 15, 2020 - 12:43pm
Good point about not cannibalizing F-150 sales.
Jason Holland wrote on January 15, 2020 - 6:47am
I've been in the market to buy a truck for months. I looked at the "new" Ranger several times and drove it once. It really lacked any interesting features. For a mid-sized truck it has a good tow rating, but from there it was all down hill. For it's stated power output it feels underpowered and slow. There's a ton of body roll and a not so great ride. The top of the line stereo system is just okay. And the looks are pretty bad. It reminded me too much of my 2002 F150 SuperCrew and it should have felt like a wonderful new vehicle, which it didn't. Ford also chooses to pay too many pricing games with their prices. At the time I looked they were offering massive incentives on the XLT, but I wanted a Lariat which had minimum incentives. Now they have realized they won't ever clear the lots of the 2019 models they are offering the same incentives across the board. But it's too late for me to be interested. It was likely the most disappointing vehicle I drove in my months of looking, In the end I bought a Ram 2500 Power Wagon, which is of course a totally different truck, but I like to look at the entire market before deciding.