F-150's have steadily been growing in size over the last 10 years or so. Today, they have enormous wheelbases and basically no way to configure one a bit smaller. Try building one with just two doors,.. then they put a 8 foot box on it. No matter how you slice or dice it, its huge in any configuration.
The global Ranger is enjoying huge success in 180 countries and our homeland is the only country that does not get it. Even if it were priced similar to the F-150 I believe many would buy the Ranger if they would make available the 5 cylinder diesel that can reach 30 MPG.
Ford will never sell the Global ranger here. And that fact is an admission of how good it is. IMO, it would cannibalize the F-150 because its that good. I can say that being I actually own one and know from real experience that the Australian team at Ford hit a home run on this bad boy. Its easy for people to sit back and say it does not have a prayer against the F-150 when they have not seen, felt, or driven the global Ranger. Unless anyone on this forum has actually driven the new Ranger, I'm not going to take their criticism they have to throw at it seriously. Because its just hypothetical assumptions that have been formulated in their head without really knowing first hand. I know that statement will probably upset somebody here but I don't care. Its all hypothetical mumbo jumbo. In the Fiji Islands the new ford is literally destroying the rooted leader Toyota Hilux and Nissan Navara. Ask anyone over there which truck is best and 90 percent will say the word Ford. Its a status symbol in Fiji to drive a new Ranger. And that's because it provides more HP, Torque and at the same time improving MPG over the competition. At the same time, the others have no where near the ride as the ford. The roads are really bad over there and the ford irons out pot holes, and rough surfaces like butter. Off road and on-road ride is spectacular for this truck. Like I said, you really have to drive one before firing off criticism.
Here is a YouTube showing the ranger pulling out a 160 ton steam locomotive
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPMgfdKCeZA
Yes, the 5 cylinder has insane amount of torque. The good news is the ford Transit is slated to get this same engine in the near future in the US. So yes, its possible to federalize the 3.2 diesel. Ford has already committed to that. The F-150 will get a new 2.7 diesel as well. But I have my doubts if it will get the same fuel savings as the new Ranger. If Ford can bring up the combined MPG to 25 with the 2.7 and maybe offer something with a wheelbase of 12 inches less then the current model, then I will buy a F-150. But I'm afraid that's wishful thinking.