2026 Ford Ranger will break new ground and move beyond established rivals the Toyota HiLux, BYD Shark 6, Nissan Navara and Mitsubishi Triton

Ford Ford News Ford Ranger Ford Ranger News Isuzu Isuzu News Hino Hino News Fuso Fuso News Commercial Best Commercial Cars Ford Commercial Range Isuzu Commercial Range Hino Commercial Range Fuso Commercial Range Ute Best Ute Cars Ford Ute Range Isuzu Ute Range Hino Ute Range Fuso Ute Range Off road Car News
...
Byron Mathioudakis
Contributing Journalist
17 May 2025
5 min read

Are you an owner/driver of an Isuzu N Series, Fuso Canter or Hino 300 small truck?

Then this might be for you, because Ford is banking on breaking into the light duty (LD) truck class with something completely different to the cab-over chassis norm with the coming Ranger Super Duty.

Due out sometime next year, the Australian-designed and engineered version of this country’s best-selling vehicle will be considerably more capable and off-road-ready than the existing version, as well as the first ex-factory medium-sized ute of its kind anywhere in the world.

Still undergoing final development, pricing and specification details are yet to be divulged, but the 2026 Super Duty will include 4500kg maximum braked towing, 4500kg Gross Vehicle Mass (GVM) and 8000kg Gross Combined Mass (GCM) capacities.

Despite being 1000kg, 1220kg and 1600kg greater than the best that any other Ranger can currently muster respectively, it (only just) still allows for a standard driver’s licence to operate, putting the Super Duty right into LD truck territory, where the Isuzu has dominated for three decades and most models have markedly improved in safety thanks to freshly mandated regulations for 2025.

Now, Ford has said that while the newcomer has been designed with big industry, government departments, emergency services, mining, agriculture and farming applications in mind, smaller businesses and personal buyers are also a big part of the story.

According to Ford Motor Company Ranger/Everest Ford Performance, Special Vehicle Engineering and Customisation Chief Program Engineer, Dave Burns, the Super Duty’s ability to balance weekday workhorse muscle with weekend family-friendly passenger-car comfort, performance, safety and refinement because of its Ranger basis has its advantages for owner/users.

2026 Ford Ranger Super Duty.
2026 Ford Ranger Super Duty.

“There is a really interesting customer insight we have had with the cab-overs (LD trucks),” he told the Australian media at Ford’s 100th anniversary event in Melbourne last month.

“A lot of people have it for the Monday to Friday (work days), and then they have a Ranger (for example).

“So, when they get home, they park the cab-over in the driveway and they take out the other vehicle instead, out to the shops, or take the kids out, go to the footy.”

2025 Hino 300.
2025 Hino 300.

As a result of such research, and harking back to Ford Australia’s world-first ute back in 1934 that followed on from a Victorian farmer’s wife’s request for a more-civilised truck, Burns believes the Super Duty could likewise be pitched as a ‘two-in-one’ proposition, making LDs redundant for many prospective consumers.

“What we've found, with Super Duty, is you don't need a cab-over anymore,” he stated.

“You can do the Monday to Fridays, then – going back to (original ute inventor) Lewis Bandt example of (combining a car for) church on Sunday and (a ute for) taking the pigs (to market) on Monday – what we're giving the customer is a single product that can do both applications.”

2025 Fuso Canter.
2025 Fuso Canter.

Burns added that this could save consumers tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars as a result of not needing a second vehicle as a result of having a LD truck workhorse for weekday-only use.

“You can do both things, with one vehicle,” he said. “If you talk about cost of ownership, one vehicle's going to be a lot cheaper than two.”

To that end, the Super Duty will have the same interior space, multimedia technologies and security features as every other corresponding Ranger model, including all of the advanced driver-assist safety tech.

2026 Ford Ranger Super Duty.
2026 Ford Ranger Super Duty.

Ultimately, this is a workhorse, however, and so, to help achieve its extended towing, GVM and GCM capabilities, the Super Duty has undergone extensive modifications.

“In terms of the proportion of parts, let's talk about how much stuff has changed,” Burns revealed.

“If we talk about reliability and robustness and how the thing has got to last, it's got to be durable, it's got to be reliable… so, the underbody in the car, we’re talking powertrains, suspension, frame… 70 per cent of the content of that underbody is all new for Ranger.

2026 Ford Ranger Super Duty.
2026 Ford Ranger Super Duty.

“It’s all been beefed up, it’s bigger, it’s badder, plus all the protective (items) like the bash plates straight out of the factory… we know how our customers use these trucks. They're brutal, and we've tested them in those conditions to make sure that the car's up for the job.

“So, in terms of confidence, we have absolutely taken this thing to the ends of the earth and back, tried to break it, and you know, the thing is performing really, really well.”

Extra toughness, then, but within the same dynamic parameters that make the Ranger one of the best utes to drive and ride in, period.

2025 Isuzu NLR.
2025 Isuzu NLR.

These are backed up by substantially altered bodywork, including a new bonnet, guards, grille and a (uniquely steel for Super Duty) front bumper, as well as wider wheel arches, bigger exterior mirrors, extra side lighting and larger wheels with an eight-stud pattern and 33-inch General off-road tyres.

Ironically, given Ford’s desire to go after the Isuzu N Series and other Japanese-made cab-over LDs, the company used to rely on then-partner Mazda to supply its own version, the Trader, from the 1970s internationally, and during the 1980s and 1990s in Australia.

Whether the Super Duty succeeds is anybody’s guess.

1982 Ford Trader.
1982 Ford Trader.

But with the N Series averaging about 7000 sales last year and the Fuso and Hino with around 2000 units apiece, in an overall 3.5-tonne to 8.0-tonne GVM segment taking in LDs as well as vans that accounts for about 25,000 sales annually, there is certainly room for the toughest Ranger to grow.

Byron Mathioudakis
Contributing Journalist
Byron started his motoring journalism career when he joined John Mellor in 1997 before becoming a freelance motoring writer two years later. He wrote for several motoring publications and was ABC Youth radio Triple J's "all things automotive" correspondent from 2001 to 2003. He rejoined John Mellor in early 2003 and has been with GoAutoMedia as a senior product and industry journalist ever since. With an eye for detail and a vast knowledge base of both new and used cars Byron lives and breathes motoring. His encyclopedic knowledge of cars was acquired from childhood by reading just about every issue of every car magazine ever to hit a newsstand in Australia. The child Byron was the consummate car spotter, devoured and collected anything written about cars that he could lay his hands on and by nine had driven more imaginary miles at the wheel of the family Ford Falcon in the driveway at home than many people drive in a lifetime. The teenage Byron filled in the agonising years leading up to getting his driver's license by reading the words of the leading motoring editors of the country and learning what they look for in a car and how to write it. In short, Byron loves cars and knows pretty much all there is to know about every vehicle released during his lifetime as well as most of the ones that were around before then.
About Author

Comments