Ranger Super Duty won’t end F-150, yet

Ford said its massive investment to beef-up the Ranger into the Super Duty won’t be the death knell for the F-150, at least not for now.

Ford’s Australian CEO Andrew Birkic said the F-150 will still have a place despite the Ranger Super Duty moving into its territory when it comes to towing and payload capabilities.

“I would see [Super Duty] and the full-size pick-up segment as two different customers,” he said. “If you look at them on the road, you look at full-size pick-ups, they’re pulling boats right?”

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“I was at Sandown, they’re there pulling car trailers. Right now, [the Super Duty] can do that too, but I think it leans more into work, where I think full-size pick-ups including competitors lean more into recreation.”

“So I think there’s a distinction. I do think there will be some draw [for both] and you know we make these assumptions when we do our business case. I think the full-size pick-up will continue to do well because it has a particular customer.”

The Ranger Super Duty, and its entirely upgraded chassis, driveline and suspension components, moves into a segment above the standard crop of dual-cabs. It is able to have a GVM of 4500kg, a towing capacity of 4500kg and a GCM of 8000kg. Its re-engineered platform has the same width as a Raptor performance variant, while adding significantly to the ride height and off-road clearances of the standard Ranger.

On top of that the Aussie-developed Super Duty is priced to undercut the F-150 in Ford’s line-up, with a starting price of $82,990 for a single-cab, stretching to $89,990 for a dual-cab.

Meanwhile the F-150 starts at $106,950 for the short-wheelbase XLT and reaches to $140,945 for the top-spec Lariat long-wheelbase.

The Ranger Super Duty is served with a tweaked version of the 3.0-litre turbo diesel V6 engine from the rest of the Ranger line-up (producing less power, at 154kW/600Nm), the F-150 is powered by a 3.5-litre turbo petrol V6 (298kW/678Nm). Both cars wield a 10-speed torque converter automatic transmission and a 4x4 system.

Both can tow the full 4500kg, but the Ranger has an even higher GCM and GVM compared to the F-150's 7270kg and 3220kg capacities.

After having big hopes for the F-150 as an alternative to the once-dominant Ram 1500 in the American full-size pick-up category in Australia, the model has gone on to have a tough year. Its volume has dropped 70.8 per cent year-on-year, and the model has been marred by multiple recalls.

It continues to trail the Ram 1500 and Silverado, but remains ahead of Toyota’s Tundra, which has also struggled to make an impact in 2025.

Meanwhile Ford is hoping the Super Duty will provide exactly the remedy the market is looking for in the high-GCM and GVM space, which is currently only served by this crop of right-hand-drive converted American full-sizers, light cabover trucks, or the comparatively ancient Toyota 70 Series, which lacks many of the safety and refinements of its rivals.

Stay tuned for more on the Super Duty story over the course of 2026. Ford is hoping to serve the aforementioned recreational buyers with a more luxurious XLT variant complete with a standard ute tub as opposed to a cab-chassis set-up launching in the middle of the year.