I was driving home (I live near San Antonio) on IH-35 the other day and saw a crew cab Ford Ranger with Mexican plates. I looked it up on the Mexican Ford website and sure enough they offer it in crew cab version. I’m not in the market for one, but just wondering why they offer them downs there but not in the US. I also heard a while back that Dodge makes a Prospector (similar the the Ford Bronco) and sells it in Mexico. One of those with the new Dodge look would be awesome.
I’m hoping someone can shed light on this mystery of auto makers offering different body styles in other countries.
In the case of the Ranger, it’s probably not offered because if they offered a crew-cab in this country, it would poach sales from their more profitable SUV’s.
But the most common reason why cars aren’t sold in this country is regulation. Not only do cars have to be specifically designed to meet US safety, economy and emissions standards, but the process to certify them can be lenghty and expensive. If a carmaker thinks a particular model won’t sell well in the US market, they usually won’t bother with it.
Hmm. I would say there are vehicles manufactured differently in different countries. I was stationed in Germany for three years and I saw Ford vehicles there which were not available in the US, plus Mercedes, VW, and BMW models which were also not available in the US.
I beg to differ with another poster, this is certainly NOT a stupid question and yes, there are different vehicles in other countries that may or may not be available in the US.
Purrs,
Pookie
Mexicans live in a much more free country than we do. Their government is not their Mommy. The government is not involved in crash and emissions testing. VW TDI’s are everywhere.
A Ford Ranger crew cab (a Mazda product) would cut into the sales of the far more profitable F-150 models in the U.S.
Well, their federal government isn’t. However, Mexico City, with it’s “free” lack of emissions regulations had some of the worst air quality in the world in the 70’s and the local government has since instituted emissions standards that are even more stringent than California’s.
OH yea…Post 9-11 I did some traveling to South America for work. They had MANY vehicles down there that you couldn’t find in the US. 4-door pickups by Toyota and Nissan that were easily 20 years olds were common place.
Maybe the OP is not mechanically literate and the emissions/safety angle just did not occur to them. That does not make them or the question stupid.
The U.S. has standards and now the U.S. is going to allow Mexican trucks to travel the states no matter how unsafe or what kind of emission system, or lack thereof, they have, or had.
Correction, the Mazda pickup is made by Ford and not as you have stated. Ford owns, at least maybe up to recently, Mazda.
You haven’t seen anything yet! Check out the Toyota Hilux!
The main thing here is affordability. Mexicans have much less money to spend on a vehicle, so the vehicles tend to be smaller. The Ranger Crew Cab would be the perfect vehicle for a Mexican middle class farmer and serve as familiy car and truck. Americans would likely find this vehicle too small in the passemger compartment. If Ford can sell a full size crew cab in the US, why bother with a smaller and less profitable Ranger. Agree there is a niche market in the US for an outdoors family with 2 small children, for whom this vehicle would be just right.
Well, with minor differences, the HiLux is the same as the Toyota Pickup/Tacoma, which I believe you can now buy in this country in a crew cab. I’d speculate this is because the 4-door Tacoma fills the niche the 4-runner used to before it became such a bloated luxury SUV.
Of course, the main thing with the HiLux is that most of them were sold with the vastly superior 2.4L Diesel engine!
Yes, their emission standards are stricter but they are not enforced. Just go to Mexico and count how many vehicles you will see spewing out black smoke. In the past year I have spent 9 weeks in MX and have seen numerous cars that should not pass any safety inspection by US standards. This is my observation by visually watching them from a distance. Missing windshields, Doors ropped closed, no muffler, bald tires etc.
God only knows what you would find if you performed an up close inspection.
I have been told from people who go there reguarly that the police focus on the cars with US registrations. There is more money in it.
Mexico has many poor people that can’t afford a decent car or safe car by US standards.
You responded to a poster who said “Mexico City”, I think, and your response was “Mexico”. What you say is true for Mexico, but is not true for Mexico City. In Mexico City (which includes the entire Valley of Mexico) all cars are regularly smog certified, and any car which is putting out a large cloud of smoke is refused certification until it is fixed.
I spend most of my time in Mexico, and we own a house in Mexico City. Since 1993, the city has been dramatically cleaner. I could write a large article on the topic, but not now. Yet, the usual suspect environmentalists scream louder and louder about how bad smog is there, and how it is getting worse.
An added comment, neither agreeing nor disagreeing with you. For some years, the Mexican government has allowed the import from the US of small pickups (e.g. – Luv; ranger ) more than ten years old. When my brother-in-law from Cordoba asked us to look for an older small pickup, we found they sold considerably higher than much newer ones, as far north as Oklahoma! In some cases, they were priced higher than the same pickup same condition in Mexico. Sigh!