The Ford Ranger has been an undeniable success in this part of the world, being the tops selling vehicle in Australia in 2024 and achieving the same accolade here in New Zealand for the 10th year in a row last year as well.
But the Australian designed and engineered ute has also been a runaway success in a far tougher market for a "mid-size" pickup to break into: the North American market, where bigger is always better and the mighty F-150 has reigned supreme for decades.
But the Ranger has now picked up a major accolade in that part of the world, being named the 2025 North American Truck of the Year, beating out the Toyota Tacoma and Ram 1500.
The Ranger's win marks the fifth consecutive year a Ford truck has been awarded this prestigious title, with the Super Duty (F-250/350/450/550) taking the title in 2024, the F-150 in 2021 and 2023 and the small Maverick winning in 2022.
A jury of 50 independent automotive journalists from the United States and Canada selected the Ranger based on a range of criteria, including innovation, design, safety, performance, technology, user experience, driver satisfaction, and value for money.
The North American market Ranger eschews the diesel powerplants we get here in favour of a pair of petrol engines - a 2.3-litre EcoBoost turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine (as seen here in the Mustang and the Volkswagen Amarok) and a 2.7-litre EcoBoost turbo V6 - for the standard range, while the Raptor also avoids the diesel option we get here and is only offered with the mighty 3.0-litre petrol V6.

The Truck of the Year is one of three categories in the North American Car, Truck and Utility Vehicle of the Year Awards (you can probably guess the other two) that was founded in 1994 and is the longest-running new-vehicle award not associated with a single publication, website, radio or television station in North America.
The winners of the two other titles are also rather relevant to the New Zealand market, as both are due to debut here this year: the Honda Civic hybrid (actually on sale now) took out the Car of the Year title over the Toyota Camry and Kia K4 (formerly the Cerato), while the Utility Vehicle of the Year was won by the Volkswagen ID. Buzz, which beat the Chevrolet Equinox EV and Hyundai Santa Fe, and is due here any time now.