The Ford Ranger name is used on two distinct and unrelated pick-up truck lines by the Ford Motor Company.
In North America, the Ranger is usually Ford's entry-level pick-up truck. In the 1960s and 1970s, it was used on versions of the F-100 . The current line of Rangers was introduced in 1982 for the 1983 model year. It replaced the Ford Courier, an Americanized version of the Mazda B-Series. The compact Ranger was styled after the full-size Ford pickups, and also offered a four wheel drive system. Prior to the 1983 model year, "Ranger" was a trim package available on the full-size Ford pickups. The car uses code R1 (for 2-door) and R4 (for 4-door) in the 5th and 6th positions of the VIN. The Mazda - Ford - Mazda truck saga came full circle in 1993 when the Mazda B-Series truck became a rebadged Ford Ranger in North America.
In most other markets, the Ranger denotes a badge-engineered version of the Mazda B-Series, since 1999. Many are supplied from Mazda's Thai and Indonesian plants. It is called the Ford Courier in Australia and New Zealand. This makes sense, as the Mazda and Ford lines share a platform.
