It Looks Like The Ford Ranchero Is Returning — Will It Be An EV?

Ford is brushing up on its Spanish again.

Prior to the launches of the Maverick Lobo and F-150 Lobo, Ford filed for trademarks on the names of the pickups, which heralded their upcoming arrivals, and now it’s put in a new application for “Ranchero.”

Ford Authority first reported on the news that the submission was made on August 5 and covers “motor vehicles” of all types and their “structural parts.”

The original Ford Ranchero was a two-door pickup based on the 1957 Ford car chassis. It lived in that form through seven generations across various platforms and sizes until the final LTD II-based model went out of production in 1979.

Ford has held trademarks on the Ranchero name before, but the new one suggests it intends to put it to work again on a new model.

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While it’s unlikely to introduce a new car-based pickup like the old one — as it no longer sells any cars aside from the Mustang in the U.S. and two-door vehicles are not very popular these day — the Maverick name made the jump from an old compact car model to an SUV sold in Europe to the new pickup over the years, so Ford doesn’t mind repurposing classic nameplates.

One compelling possibility is that it will be used on the low-cost midsize electric pickup Ford is planning to launch in 2027. The model is being developed on a new EV platform that is designed to accommodate a variety of body styles.

Read Also: WHAT IS THE FORD MAVERICK THUNDER?

Ford hasn’t released any details about it, other than the fact that a pickup will be the first version released, but the automaker has an event scheduled for August 11 in Kentucky where it will be built and may reveal more information about it then.

Ford has not commented on the trademark application and often files to protect its historical intellectual property, so there is no guarantee it will be used on a new model soon.