2024 Ford Ranger vs 2023 GMC Sierra 1500

Take a step back and think about a full-size truck from the early 2000s. The nicest creature comforts included leather upholstery, an upgraded stereo, and, if you were lucky, heated seats. Today, nearly every luxury-car feature has found its way into high-end pickups. We’ve blown past heated leather seats; you can now get features like massaging seats in a full-size truck. The same brinksmanship that applies to pickup-truck capability now also applies to the luxury trims.

This is very evident in the 2023 GMC Sierra 1500. The Denali trim is what kicked off the idea of a “lux truck,” and it has been joined by the Ford F-150 Limited and Ram 1500 Limited. Those competitors deliver a higher grade of refinement than the Denali was providing. But upping the ante is a constant state in the truck market, and GMC now offers a Denali Ultimate trim that includes nearly every single option and package. So is the Denali Ultimate the new standard of luxury among full-size trucks?

While Ford outsells all other brands with its full-size pickup trucks, it lags behind in the midsize class. The Ranger, once the king of small trucks, hasn’t been a strong seller since Ford relaunched it for the 2019 model year. The smaller Maverick currently outsells the Ranger by nearly two to one. For 2024, the new Ranger brings more of everything: power, tech, refinement, space, and most importantly, choice. Is it too late for Ford to catch up? We tested a Ranger XLT to find out.

Verdict: With new V6 engines and a Raptor trim, the 2024 Ford Ranger offers greater choice and capability to finally match the Chevrolet Colorado, GMC Canyon, Nissan Frontier, and Toyota Tacoma.