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Having vanished from local soil for seven years, Ford finally decided to bring back the Ranger and enter a revitalized mainstream mid-size pickup segment with the 2019 Ranger. After all, this is the same company that builds the ubiquitous Ford F-Series. Was it a good move? Well, we can spend many hours comparing stat sheets between the Ranger and sales leaders like the Toyota Tacoma and Chevrolet Colorado, but this means very little if the consumer simply doesn't want a Ranger that's been sold in other markets for several years. Thankfully, according to the latest sales figures obtained from Ford Authority, the news is looking rather promising.

A total of 26,211 Rangers found homes in Q3 and, while this is some way behind the all-conquering Toyota Tacoma's 65,756 units sold over the same period, it's over 5,000 units up on the Ranger's Q2 performance and a whopping 16,790 more than in Q1. With its best quarter of the year, the Ranger achieved 16 percent market share in the segment, not far off the second-placed Chevrolet Colorado's 19 percent.

While the mainstream mid-size truck segment has seen 26 percent year-to-date growth thus far, it's largely due to the Ford Ranger and Jeep Gladiator, as all other competitors in this class have seen decreasing sales. With the Gladiator especially focused on rugged off-road work and being less refined on-road, it's not hard to imagine that the Ford has begun poaching some sales from the Tacoma and Colorado.

Considering the progress made in 2019, Ford may want to give the Ranger line-up a rethink, especially the engine options - or, should we say, option. Every Ranger is still only available with a 2.3-liter turbo-four and, as versatile as this power plant may be, buyers in search of a beefy V6 will simply be knocking on the doors at Toyota and Chevrolet. With a broadened range, the Ranger can have a real go at the segment leaders on the sales charts and further add weight to the maker's decision to return the nameplate.