Ford Ranger’s Winning Formula: Innovation and Customer Focus

The Ford Ranger has been named 2025 North American Truck of the Year at the Detroit Auto Show. The win marks the fifth consecutive year a Ford truck has received the honor from the North American Car, Utility, and Truck awards committee. 

Jim Baumbick, vice president, Advanced Product Development, Cycle Planning and Programs, accepted the award before a crowd of automotive media and industry professionals. He spoke to @FordOnline about the success of Ranger, reflecting on the significance of this and previous honors for Ford’s truck lineup and the need for continuous innovation and improved quality. 

Q: What would you like to say to the Ford and UAW-Ford team members whose work helped deliver this award?

First, thank you for everything you do for our company and putting your passion into satisfying our customers. Being recognized in this way reflects a team effort. And second is the importance of quality. It’s one thing to create a product that customers fall in love with and buy, but it’s another thing to stay in love with the product. And every single person in our company has a role to play to ensure that a Ford owner has a high-quality experience through the entire lifecycle.

Q: What does it mean to have Ford’s truck leadership being recognized for an unprecedented fifth consecutive North American Truck of the Year honor?

It just reinforces that we know trucks, we know work, and it’s something we can’t rest on. We have to continue to innovate. Features like Pro Power Onboard are a great example of that. And then we have to deploy those advances across our lineup in a way that it becomes a point of differentiation for our entire lineup of trucks.

Q: How did the variety of Ford’s truck lineup play into this five-year streak?

There are specific needs that customers have for their trucks. And we’re the only full-line manufacturer of trucks on the planet, so we can tailor vehicles specifically to their needs from Maverick to Ranger, all the way up to F-Series Super Duty. The use cases are really endless, and the segmentation of those trucks ensures that we deliver the right tool for every job for each customer.

Ranger reigns supreme

Baumbick noted Ranger was rigorously tested in challenging environments around the world to ensure it delivered the Built Ford Tough durability our customers demand. He also credited a “laser focus” on customers.  

Baumbick said the wide array of usage by Ranger customers and the pickup’s global scale helped push it over the top in the eyes of the jury of 50 automotive journalists from the U.S. and Canada who vote on the award. 

“We have the benefit of learning from Ranger customers in over 188 different markets globally,” he said. “The real cherry on the top is the Ranger Raptor. Extending our passion products into a space that, for many customers, is the right size. And it has all the capability of a Raptor family member.”

Raptor joins Ranger lineup

The high-performance, off-road capable Ranger Raptor model, designed and engineered by Ford Performance and race-proven with a class win in the Baja 1000, joined the Ranger lineup in North America in 2024. Ranger and Ranger Raptor are both produced at the Michigan Assembly Plant.

The fully redesigned Ranger is the most connected and capable Ranger ever. It includes a standard 2.3L EcoBoost engine and offers a more powerful, available 2.7L EcoBoost V6, in addition to new driver-assist technologies. Ranger also has more available towing technology than ever, including class-exclusive Pro Trailer Backup Assist.

What the jury said

The North American Truck of the Year jury selects winners based on such factors as innovation, design, and performance. 

“It’s a midsize truck that has combined fuel economy of 20 mpg and can tow 7,500 pounds,” juror Drew Winter, contributing editor, WardsAuto, said of Ranger. “It has a solid and refined chassis, a nice interior, and is a good choice for budget-conscious buyers.”  

This win also marks Ford’s seventh North American Car, Utility and Truck of the Year award in the last five years. Other Ford wins in recent years have come from F-150, F-150 Lightning, F-Series Super Duty, Maverick, Bronco, and Mustang Mach-E.