As Ford prepares to start customer deliveries of the new Maverick compact pickup truck in the US, the Blue Oval automaker is already teasing the next-generation Ranger. Earlier this month, an official teaser video showed the new Ranger tackling sand, mud, and ice, demonstrating its off-roading prowess. Ford hasn't officially announced when the new Ranger will arrive, but thanks to insider information shared on the Ranger 6G forum, we now know the production timeline.

Codenamed P703, the global version of the next-generation Ford Ranger will initially launch in Australia and Thailand early next year. US customers will have a longer wait, however.

Even though the final design was reportedly finalized in February 2019, the US version of the 2023 Ranger (codenamed P703N) is scheduled to enter production at Ford's Michigan Assembly Plant on May 1, 2023. Sales will then start in the US on July 3, 2023, according to the insider.

By then, the current Ford Ranger will have been on sale in America for five years. The new and improved Ranger, on the other hand, will allegedly have an eight-year lifecycle, with production expected to end in April 2031. Ford claims the new Ranger will be the "toughest, most capable and connected Ranger pickup yet," so it should be worth the wait.

Engine options for the new Ranger are unknown, but the current truck's capable 2.3-liter turbocharged inline-four engine will likely carry over. The biggest question is whether the Ford Ranger Raptor will finally be available in the US when the next-generation pickup goes on sale.

Currently, the Ford Ranger Raptor available in Europe is powered by a 2.0-liter four-cylinder turbodiesel rated at 269 hp and 369 lb-ft, but the new version could get the Explorer's 3.0-liter twin-turbo EcoBoost producing 400 hp and 415 lb-ft of torque. Ford was recently caught testing the new Ranger Raptor in the US towing a heavy trailer, so there is hope that Ford's hardcore midsize truck will finally come to America.