Quote:
Originally Posted by Bossxr8
Just as I suspected, the story was made up. I wondered why I had never seen one if it was a confirmed program. Good job Wheels 
https://www.caradvice.com.au/853609/...possibly-ever/
A Ford Ranger Raptor V8 will not arrive in Australian showrooms this year – or likely ever – an extensive investigation by CarAdvice has found.
Contrary to media reports that claimed a Ford Ranger Raptor V8 “is coming”, “has been sanctioned by Ford Australia”, will be “sold through Ford dealers (with) full five-year warranty”, and is “anticipated” by the end of 2020, CarAdvice has learned the program was never close to approval stage.
CarAdvice has been told the Ford Ranger Raptor V8 was ruled out last year while the idea was still in its infancy – more than six months before it made news – and was not “put on hold” due to recent “tightening financial restrictions” driven by the coronavirus crisis, as has been claimed.
Despite media reports that said “there are two things we know for sure: that a V8-engined Ford Ranger Raptor is coming, and that a lengthy queue is already forming for it”, the idea never made it beyond an internal presentation and discussion paper. A prototype was not even built. |
The silence from Ford is deafening, if there was ever any intention to do this,
why would it pick 12-18 months before a new product cycle begins with so
many baked in improvements. Short answer is that they wouldn't.
I still believe that Ford would love to do a truly HP Ranger but that has to be
tempered with with the reality of economics and what future power trains
will be offered and more importantly what those buyers really want.
If the intention is to gain more sales in the mid sized pick up segment then
Ford needs to deliver a Ranger that's better than the competition in all the
checkpoints that matter to regular buyers. I look forward to seeing what
Ford is planning to do with the whole package.