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| The Ford Ranger |
GM Korea mulls Colorado, Ford Korea taps Ranger
By Nam Hyun-woo
U.S. automakers in Korea are tapping into their pickup trucks as the secret weapons to bolster their sales here, but the outlook seems murky for those iconic American vehicles as questions linger whether their presence can offset their wasteful fuel economy.
According to Ford Korea, Tuesday, it is "very positive" in introducing Ford pickups to Korea in the near future. It is now working on a timeframe and determining which model it should import.
"The domestic market has been paying increasing attention to pickup trucks in the past several years," a Ford Korea official said. "Ford has been consolidating its market status with its F-series vehicles and the Ranger and we believe the time is ripe for us to introduce Ford's competitive pickup models to domestic consumers."
Ford Korea has been dropping hints on both the F150 full-size pickup and the Ranger midsize pickup, while market observers expect the latter will be selected because the Ranger is more suitable for domestic parking conditions.
The Ranger was discontinued in 2011 and took seven years to return to the U.S. market as the 2019 Ranger. The 5.36-meter-long pickup offers a 2.3L V4 EcoBoost turbo engine coupled with a 10-speed automatic transmission. It produces 308 horsepower with a 28.7 kilogram per meter torque.
GM Korea is also preparing to introduce the Chevrolet Colorado midsize pickup next year. The Colorado has a V6 3.6L gasoline engine yielding 308 horsepower with a 28.1 kilogram per meter torque and has a body slightly longer, at 5.4 meters, than the Ranger.
GM Korea said it is yet to determine when it will roll out the Colorado, saying it has to look into the sales performance of the Equinox, a Chevrolet SUV that started retailing here on June 7.
Despite the two U.S. giants' bid for pickup trucks, the outlook is not as favorable as they want.
The domestic pickup truck market is dominated by SsangYong Motor's Rexton Sports, selling more than 15,000 vehicles so far since its January release. It is smaller than the two American vehicles at 5.01 meters in overall length and powered by a 2.2L V4 diesel engine.
The question is whether their fuel efficiency is suitable for Korea, whose traffic conditions require vehicles to idle for city driving.
Though the two models are yet to have their official fuel economy measured in Korea, the Colorado reports 17 miles per gallon for city driving and 24 miles per gallon on the highway, which is approximately 7 kilometers to 10 kilometers per liter. The Ranger is also estimated to get around 20 miles per gallon for the city and 30 miles per gallon for the highway, or 8 kilometers to 12 kilometers per liter.
The fuel economy of Rexton Sports is 9.8 kilometers to 10 kilometers per liter. Given it is diesel-powered, the gap between the Rexton Sports and the two other vehicles could be greater.
Market observers also say the pricing of the Colorado and the Ranger would determine their success in Korea.
The Rexton Sports is priced between 23.2 million won and 32.38 million won depending on the trim level. Given that the price of the Colorado brought into Korea through parallel import is around 40 million won, GM Korea's pricing would be a decisive factor for the Colorado's sales performance in Korea.
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| The Chevrolet Colorado |
