25/06/2008 16:05. With record gasoline prices undermining sales of its full-size pickups, Ford Motor Co. is considering extending the life of its elderly Ford Ranger compact pickup for another two years, according to people familiar with the company's plan.

That would be good news for workers at Ford's Twin Cities Assembly Plant in St. Paul, Minn. The factory is slated to close next year when production of the Ranger is scheduled to end.

Under the plan now being weighed by Ford, the Ranger would stay in production until 2011 when a new global version is ready. That truck will be produced overseas.

The review of the Ranger is part of a broader rethinking of Ford's entire truck program triggered by skyrocketing fuel prices and a consumer shift to smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles.

As The Detroit... // DetNews.com