Automotive trademarks don’t always mean a new product is imminent. They only cost a few hundred dollars to file. It can also make sense to trademark an historical name out of due diligence to ensure that another manufacturer cannot use it. Take any filing with a grain of salt. But other times, a trademark filing can herald something quite significant, like the Ford Maverick.
Yesterday, we had another interesting development on the automotive trademark front. Ford filed an application to trademark “Ranchero” for use in motor vehicles, electric vehicles, and pickup trucks.
What Is The Ford Ranchero?
Ford used the Ranchero nameplate from the late 1950s to the late 1970s. It was an affordable two-door passenger car with seating for two (or three) in front and a full-size truck bed at the back – what Australians would call a ute. Chevrolet offered a more famous rival: the El Camino. Ford also built V8-powered muscle truck versions of the Ranchero, like the one pictured above based on the classic Ford Torino. Ford stopped making Rancheros in 1979, keeping the Courier, a rebadged Mazda compact pickup, and later the Ranger in the lineup as de facto replacements.
Why Did Ford Trademark Ranchero?
The short answer for this question is: we don’t know yet. Ford did respond to a Link News inquiry about the Ranchero trademark, but brand representatives declined to specify what, if any, plans the automaker might have for it.
“Trademark applications are intended to protect the phrases, designs and symbols that identify Ford’s products and services. We routinely file trademarks in the normal course of business but they aren’t necessarily an indication of new business or product plans.”
- Ford Spokesperson
Deploying our deductive reasoning caps, it’s hard to see Ford recreating the old Ranchero as a like-for-like vehicle. Even if Ford wanted a ute-style pickup, there’s no car to base it on. Ford has almost completely converted to trucks, SUVs, and crossovers. The only passenger car in the lineup is the Mustang. A Mustang ute pickup feels unlikely, but then again, you can go to a dealership right now and get an electric crossover with Mustang badges.
Ranchero could make sense as a name for a more conventional, unibody platform-based, compact pickup. But Ford already has that with the Maverick. However, a two-door Maverick Ranchero with a longer bed could be interesting. It would embody the Ranchero spirit and represent the earlier truck era when most were single-cab vehicles with a larger bed. Then again, why complicate things with what would undoubtedly be a less popular version of a vehicle that’s selling well as-is?
Could The Ranchero Be Ford's Cheap Electric Truck?
Ford does have one future product coming that could be a potential fit for the Ranchero nameplate. Ford is set to reveal its new affordable EV platform next week, which CEO Jim Farley has likened to a “Model T moment.” That new platform should offer a new electric crossover and a new electric pickup.
Ford has leaned on its historic nameplates for new vehicles lately. Obviously, the brand revived the Bronco name for its Jeep Wrangler and Jeep Compass competitors. Ford also used the Maverick nameplate for a compact car in the 1970s, and SUVs abroad in later decades. Repurposing Ranchero as a small, car-based electric pickup could make sense.
But if Ford were using the Ranchero nameplate for that truck, it might have made sense to secure the trademark for the name months, if not years, ago. Applying a few days before the launch would be cutting things a bit close.
Source: US Patent & Trademark Office
