Why did Ford not sell the crew cab Ranger in the US?

Almost every other automaker that offered a compact or midsize truck (Chevrolet/GMC S-10/Sonoma, Toyota Tacoma, Dodge Dakota, Nissan Frontier; Mazda and Isuzu had small pickups but crew cab was only offered outside the US) sold crew cab variants, but Ford didn't have a crew cab available for its Ranger, in spite of the Ranger's success.

Considering how the Ford F-150 crew cab was a roaring success, why did Ford not opt to have a Ranger crew cab sold in the US? This perplexes me to no end…

Don't know, but I "heard" it was a difficult process to design frame strength cheap enough to support the length and weight of those crew cabs and I'm guessing the work required to get that done with the ranger wasn't feasible financially. I've also "heard" that by the time you pay for a nice quarter ton you might as well get the half ton since they are so close in price.

But I buy ~10year old cars w/~100k on them so this is complete speculation.

They had an extended cab and super cab. With littles engines, I doubt they thought it would do well in the US with little power and a heavier platform.

The compact Ford Ranger pickup was NEVER an outstanding sales leader in the USA. While Ford DID offer an extended cab version of their compact pickup truck, they were just as expensive to buy as the full sized F-150, and the fuel mileage was about the same, so there was no real advantage to owning the smaller truck. A true crew-cab version was manufactured in Argentina and Australia, but never sold in the USA. Compact pickup sales slumped all across the market in the early 2000's, and Ranger production was ended in the US in 2011.

A NEW version of the Ford Ranger MAY be back in the USA as a 2019 model.

Americans buy vehicles by the pound. Joe Sixpack is going to look at the window sticker and say "Hell, for *that* kind of money I can get an F-150."

Complicated.

I have a 2001 Ranger 4x4 extended cab with the 4.0 motor. There are 2 little jump seats in the back. Although it's a tough little truck as is it does have a few undesirable features. Mine has the step side bed which is extremely small. I can't fit a 42 inch riding mower in the back, unless it's hanging off the tailgate. I use mine to tow a boat and sometimes I need the 4 WD to get up a slippery or steep boat ramp. I moved into this truck out of a full size Chevy with an 8 foot bed. My thoughts are although the Nissan Frontier and Toyota Tacoma (and similar) are good looking mid size trucks with the crew cab, the bed is too small, for me or most contractors. Might as well get a full size Ford or Chevy truck with a crew cab to carry the crew and the supplies. Yes it's a little or mid sized truck but the abilities of the truck are limited because the bed is so small. JMO.

They sell well overseas. I have a 98 ranger and love it. Maybe with the return of the bronco ford may rethink the ranger

I don't know

Don't worry Tesla and others will do one thing that will put Ford out of business. Listen to the customers. They just need to build a light truck as tough and dependable as the Ranger.