New Zealanders are a unique bunch, born of some old cliches about number eight wire and such, and we Kiwis do love the outdoor, 'work-hard, play-hard' lifestyle.
Central to that is having a broad choice of vehicles that suit those lifestyles. For the past few years, diesel double-cab utes have been the 'it' vehicle for tens of thousands of New Zealanders.
The Ranger has come a long way from the early days when the badge was interchangeable with the long-gone Courier name. Since those days, every model change and every facelift has been heralded by new engines, drivetrain tweaks, fresh panel steel and cracking new upgrades to electronics.
The outgoing Ranger has been Ford's most successful yet, and it now bows out to give the new nextgeneration version a clear shot at goal.
Ford's new 'next generation' Ranger is user-generated; designed, engineered and tested in Australia and NZ and stacked with tech and spec. It is arguably the most eagerly awaited ute (or pickup) of recent years.
The story of the next-gen Ranger started back in 2016 with a commitment from Ford to use a
