Ford NZ moves swiftly to refute media report suggesting CO2-troubled five-pot will be gone soon.

THE story goes that, on being asked to comment on reports he had died, Mark Twain replied: “Reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated.”

Same goes, now, for the Ford Ranger in its 3.2-litre five-cylinder turbodiesel form.

Ford New Zealand has moved swiftly to correct what it suggests was a mis-interpretation of comment it sent out earlier today when discussing Clean Car initiatives and how it will be altering its fleet to best meet a new environment in which vehicles that emit more than 192 grams of CO2 per kilometre will be penalised.

In deciphering that media communique, one high-profile national publication determined it meant the Ranger in its ‘original recipe’ presentation, with a five-cylinder turbodiesel, was a goner and reported this on its on-line channel.

An alarmed Ford NZ has moved quickly – within hours it had issued a further comment saying this was definitely not the case.

A spokesman further said it was his understanding the powertrains in the current model will continue to be available right up until it ends production and is replaced by a new generation Ranger. That is expected to happen in mid-2022.

“What we’ve seen is a massive preference shift to the 2.0 litre Biturbo with the 10 speed transmission,” the brand said.

“The 3.2 is ongoing but in reduced volume and likely even more so when the Clean Car fees kick in.”

Ranger, of course, has slowly been weaning off the 3.2, which came to Ranger when the utility debuted in 2011, in favour of the four-cylinder biturbo, which has 10kW more power and 30Nm more torque and is also more efficient. And cleaner.

The four-cylinder is cited to emit 195g/km under the NEDC scale, though this climbs to over 200g when a conversion to WLTP is used. The 3.2 is cited as a 236g/km engine before that conversion applies.

In its communication, Ford said it had adjusted the price of its plug-in hybrid Transit Custom Van to $78,990 plus on roads so the model can qualify for the $5750 government rebate on new PHEV vehicles. This realignment occurs on August 1.