The Ford Ranger is a range of pickup trucks manufactured and marketed by Ford Motor Company in North and South America under the Ford Ranger nameplate. Introduced in early 1982 for the 1983 model year, the Ranger is currently in its fifth generation. Developed as a replacement for the Mazda-sourced Ford Courier, the model line has been sold across the Americas; Ford of Argentina began production of the Ranger for South America in 1998.

Through its production, the model line has served as a close rival to the Chevrolet S-10 and its Chevrolet Colorado successor (and their GMC counterparts), with the Ranger as the best-selling compact truck in the United States from 1987 to 2004. From 2012 to 2018, the Ranger model line was retired in North America as Ford concentrated on its full-size F-Series pickup trucks. For the 2019 model year, Ford introduced a fourth generation of the Ranger (after a seven-year hiatus). The first mid-size Ranger in North America, the model line is derived from the globally marketed Ford Ranger (revised to fulfill North American design requirements).

The first three generations of the Ranger were produced by Ford at its Louisville Assembly (Louisville, Kentucky), Edison Assembly (Edison, New Jersey), and Twin Cities Assembly (Saint Paul, Minnesota) facilities; the final 2012 Ranger was the final vehicle produced at the St. Paul facility. The current fourth-generation Ranger is manufactured by Ford at Wayne Stamping & Assembly (Wayne, Michigan). Ford of Argentina produced the Ranger in its General Pacheco plant from 1998 to 2011; it replaced the North American–designed version of the Ranger with the current Ranger T6 for 2012 production.

For the 1972 model year, the Ford Courier was introduced as the first compact pickup truck sold by Ford. Following the rise of the compact truck segment during the 1960s, Ford entered into a partnership with Mazda to market the Mazda B1800 in North America; the Courier would become the first of several jointly manufactured vehicles between the two companies from the 1970s into the 2000s. Along with minimizing the risk for Ford of developing a vehicle in an unfamiliar market segment, the partnership provided Mazda with critically needed funds.

While sharing the cab and chassis with its Mazda counterpart, to increase its sales potential in North America, the Courier adapted design elements of the Ford F-Series, with twin round headlamps, silver grille, and "FORD" lettering on the hood above the grille. In 1977, the Courier and B1800 (later B2000) were redesigned with a larger cab, redesigned pickup bed, and tailgate. While closer in appearance to its Mazda counterpart, the Courier was given signal/parking lamps inset in the grille (rather than the bumper); an optional 2.3L Ford engine was not available in the Mazda pickups.

From 1972 to 1982, the Ford Courier was manufactured alongside the Mazda B-Series in Hiroshima, Japan. To avoid the 25% Chicken Tax on imported trucks, both vehicles were imported as chassis-cab trucks (taxed at 4% tariff). Following their importation to United States, pickup truck beds shipped separately from Japan were installed before shipment to dealers.

In 1976, Ford commenced development on "Project Yuma" as a replacement for the Courier. In addition to designing the first domestically produced compact truck, another key factor driving the $700 million project was compliance with the fuel economy standards of the mid-1980s. At the launch of the project in 1976, Ford predicted that for the company to properly comply with 1985 CAFE standards, nearly 50% of pickup trucks sold in the United States would require a four-cylinder engine. In 1976, compact trucks held a 5% share of pickup truck sales, with Ford predicting an expansion to 50% by 1985, equaling nearly a million sales per year.

Project Yuma was centered around quality and fuel efficiency. At the beginning of the project, Ford researched additional elements that were valued by potential compact truck buyers. Along with flexibility for both work and personal use, Ford found that buyers desired additional interior room, including three-across seating, comfortable seats, and headroom and legroom for a six-foot-tall driver; other minor details were discovered such as five-bolt wheels and a larger ashtray.