Ford Ranger vs Peugeot Partner

What's the difference?

Ford has given its Ranger ute range a mild facelift. And mild is the word. If you look closely, you might notice some small visual changes, but the real news is under the bonnet where a new entry-level powerplant lives.

And however you look at it, this new engine that addresses the ownership issues experienced by some Ranger buyers since the bi-turbo diesel engine was released back in 2018, was probably overdue.

But the new powerplant comes at a cost; in terms of power and torque, even though the vital towing statistics remain for the Ranger.

The other changes that come with this facelift include some new tech, and the availability of the V6 turbo-diesel (which is unchanged) across the entire Ranger 4X4 dual-cab line-up.

For this review, we’ve concentrated on the new engine as being the major point of difference, and we’ve driven it the base-version XL trim specification. That means this is potentially the lightest variant, and heavier specifications might blunt the performance a little. But overall, this is representative of the new powertrain and represents the biggest point of difference in what is otherwise a very minor facelift.

Is there a class of vehicle more overlooked in Australia than the humble light van?

While the pragmatic and often hatchback-based small van is dwarfed in size and sales by the popular ute as the commercial vehicle of choice here, the case is completely reversed in Europe, where light commercial vans dominate city streets, favoured for their compact nature and relative fuel efficiency.

What is it about Australia which makes the ute more successful? Is it just our history of locally producing them? Do you really even need one, or are the Europeans on to something? 

I spent a week reacquainting myself with the freshly facelifted 2025 Peugeot Partner to find out.