Ford is all abuzz about an August 11 announcement that CEO Jim Farley will make at a Kentucky factory. Farley said the following:

“August 11, that will be a big day for all of us at Ford. We will be in Kentucky to share more about our plans to design and build a breakthrough electric vehicle and a platform in the U.S.” —Jim Farley, Ford CEO

What exactly is going on? A major clue may be the recent trademark renewal of the “Ford Ranchero” nameplate. The Ranchero was an El Camino competitor—a compact Ford pickup truck built on a car chassis and sold from 1957 through 1979.

Another major clue is Farley’s about-face on the Ford F-150 Lightning EV, saying of large electric vehicles with huge batteries, “the economics are unresolvable.” He added that U.S. drivers need to fall “back in love with smaller vehicles.”

A final clue is Farley’s insistence that August 11 will be a “Model T moment for us at Ford.” Ford has told suppliers it hopes to build at least 190,000 examples of its new small pickup truck annually.

The Ford Ranchero could fill an important hole in the market

Ford currently sells nothing like the Model T. With its 1924 MSRP of $260, that barebones car would cost $4,887 today. Ford’s cheapest vehicle is the 2025 Maverick compact truck, at $28,145. The cheapest vehicle of 2026 will likely be a crossover from Hyundai or Kia starting around $21,000.

I expect Ford to announce a two-door, FWD electric pickup truck well below a $20,000 price point. In many ways, the Ranchero will out-Maverick the Ford Maverick.

The Ford Maverick was a true ‘Model T moment’

Many Ford fans are quick to dismiss any pickup that’s less than a full-frame Power Stroke as not a “real truck.” But Ford went against the grain with its 2022 Maverick. The compact, unibody pickup truck originally offered a 40 mpg EPA rating and a $20,000 MSRP. It was impossible to ignore, and the Blue Oval couldn’t build enough of them. Now other automakers are scrambling to catch up.

This strategy is in line with Henry Ford’s Model T philosophy. He famously said, “If I had asked my customers what they wanted, they would have said ‘a faster horse.’” Well, a regular-cab compact electric truck could be the cheapest vehicle on the market, and could cost less per mile to drive, lasting to a million miles. This is the strategy Jeff Bezos’ Slate startup is using to make headlines, but I expect Ford to go toe-to-toe with the Amazon CEO.