UPDATE: Ford May Relaunch Ranger Pickup, Bronco SUV in U.S.

Ford Motor Co. is preparing to reintroduce its Ranger compact pickup in the American market in 2018, sources tell The Detroit News.

Bloomberg News cites unnamed sources who say Ford also is likely to reintroduce its Bronco nameplate as a midsize SUV that would share the Ranger's chassis. Both vehicles would be built at Ford's assembly plant in Wayne, Mich. Ford said last month the Wayne factory would stop making the Focus small car and C-Max small MPV in 2017, but it didn't say if the facility would switch to other models. Focus and C-Max production is likely to move to Mexico.

Ford currently makes the Ranger in four countries for distribution to 180 markets outside the U.S. The company stopped making the Ranger in the U.S. nearly four years ago. Importing the truck would incur a 25% tariff. The Bronco went out of production in 1996.

Demand for compact pickup trucks in the U.S. is modest but growing, thanks to last year's debut of General Motors Co.'s Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon pickups. They compete with only two rivals: Nissan's Frontier and Toyota's Tacoma.

The compact pickup truck segment grew 3% to 240,400 units in 2014, according to Autodata Corp. U.S. sales through July this year surged 62% to 211,300 units.