With last year’s launch of the two-wheel-drive Ranger FX4 right before the pandemic, we reported that Ford’s game plan for pickup trucks involved giving consumers a vehicle that would practically slot into every type of need and budget bracket. That remains unchanged this year, with the Blue Oval giving its popular workhorse minor aesthetic tweaks just to make life a little more interesting for its clients.

The Wildtrak gets the bulk of the good stuff. In what is a recurring theme for pickups and SUVs these days, black is the complementary color of choice for this Ranger variant. The alloy wheels, the grille, the bumper accents, the side mirrors, the sports bar, the door handles, and the tailgate handle all get the murdered-out treatment.

One neat feature that should be well-received by customers is the optional roller lid for the Wildtrak 4×4’s load bed. This is an original Ford accessory and is conveniently operated by remote control.

The XLT also gets blacked-out trim pieces to a lesser degree. This variant—along with the Wildtrak and the XLS—sports a new trapezoidal radiator-grille design.

On the other hand, Ford’s current lineup of Rangers has the potential to make choosing the right one quite challenging. With most of the pricing gaps close to each other, there is a real possibility for some customers to have difficulty choosing whether to stick to a lower-priced trim level or spend a bit more for an upmarket variant.

For example, there is a P26,000 difference between the manual-gearbox Wildtrak and the automatic-transmission FX4 with four-wheel drive, with the latter being the more expensive truck. The customer now has to choose if he or she wants to savor the benefits of the Wildtrak’s more powerful engine or pay just a little more to enjoy the convenience of the FX4’s slush box and 4WD.

Anyway, pricing for the 2021 Ranger lineup is as follows:

• 2.0L BiTurbo Raptor 4×4 AT – P1,998,000
• 2.0L BiTurbo Wildtrak 4×4 AT – P1,728,000
• 2.0L Wildtrak 4×2 AT – P1,455,000
• 2.2L FX4 4×4 AT – P1,416,000
• 2.0L Wildtrak 4×2 MT – P1,390,000
• 2.2L FX4 4×4 MT – P1,356,000
• 2.2L FX4 4×2 AT – P1,316,000
• 2.2L FX4 4×2 MT – P1,256,000
• 2.2L XLT 4×2 AT – P1,236,000
• 2.2L XLS 4×4 MT – P1,181,000
• 2.2L XLT 4×2 MT – P1,176,000
• 2.2L XLS 4×2 AT – P1,092,000
• 2.2L XLS 4×2 MT – P1,062,000

It appears that Ford’s target market for the Ranger is the lifestyle crowd, as even the XLS already gets goodies such as Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Asked about the possibility of returning the Ranger XL for fleet customers, the automaker simply said that they were considering it along with a sub-P1,000,000 retail price.