Super Duty is a badge that’s reserved for Ford’s hardest-working pickups. Starting with the F-250 upwards, those trucks were made to pull, haul, and carry things your usual pickup can’t.
So imagine our surprise when we came across a recent trademark filing from the American automaker. Filed in the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines is the name Ford Ranger Super Duty.
OTHER STORIES YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED:
South Korea poised to reach record-high auto exports in 2024
BMW X5 celebrates 25th birthday by getting an off-road edition
Does this mean that there will be a heavy duty version of the Ford Ranger coming soon? Hold your horses, it’s not necessarily the case. It’s just a name for now and Ford might not do anything with it. But the fact that it’s there hints that the company intends to use it someday.
But why make a Super Duty version of a pickup that’s smaller than an F-150? On the surface, it doesn’t seem to make sense. Why not just offer the Super Duty worldwide instead of making a beefed up Ranger? Well, therein lies the rub.
Even the smallest Super Duty is nearly six meters long and over two meters long…without side mirrors. While perfectly suited for North America, the rest of the world isn’t as blessed in terms of road space. With that in mind, a Ranger Super Duty begins to make sense.
Should Ford build it, it’s unlikely that it’ll be the same size as the American Super Duty. We might see extended wheelbase versions of it, along with longer beds and heavy duty suspensions. A six-wheeled ‘dually’ model isn’t likely, but it’s still difficult to tell given that all we have to work on is a name.
For now, we’ll keep tabs on any updates regarding the Ranger Super Duty. It might take some time before Ford puts it into production, and that’s if the plan will be greenlit in the first place.
