Just when enthusiasts thought the Ranger was here to stay, soaring gas prices and a bottoming-out economy made this niche market dry up. Those who wanted a work truck went with larger pickups and the rest settled for four-door sedans and the like. By 2011, the last year the Ford Ranger was sold in the United States, only 55,000 Rangers sold at a time when the entire small truck sales only numbered 297,000. The Ranger went into exile overseas, finding still-viable markets in Thailand, Australia, Argentina, and South Africa.

Fast forward seven years to an era when gas prices are low again and the typical family car is a crossover SUV. Other small trucks have begun to pick up steam, including the Toyota Tacoma, Chevrolet Colorado, GMC Canyon, Nissan Frontier, and Honda Ridgeline. After denying the Ranger would ever return, Ford changed its mind, seeing a new market where one hadn't really existed just a few years before.

The new 2019 Ford Ranger has more in common with its modern-day competitors than with the 2011 model. First of all, the Ford Ranger is bigger, with a bolder, wider grille. It has bulges on the hood for a meaner, more modern look. No longer a compact, the Ranger returns as a mid-size truck. The engine is no longer a standard inline-four cylinder, but a 2.3-liter twin-scroll turbocharged four-cylinder EcoBoost engine.

Some aluminum has slipped into the design, especially in the tailgate, but not nearly as much as in the new F-150. The Ranger continues to be mostly high-strength steel with six cross beams under its truck bed for superior payload-capacity. Finally, it has the modern amenities consumers demand from today's automobiles: dual-zone climate control, navigation, USB ports, backup camera, parking sensors, and front and side impact airbags.