USA Today's car guy got one Ford's marketing executives to muse on the idea of a new, small truck "the size of the old Ranger" and we all got a little fired up. Unfortunately, Ford say that executive's views "are not shared by the company."

Here's the quote that's been floating around as attributed to Dave Scott, Ford Trucks Marketing Manager...

First of all, Healey was actually talking to Doug Scott, Ford Trucks Marketing Manager, and while it's a mistake I wouldn't crucify anybody for it's great for identifying all the news outlets who copy-pasted his story and hip-fire reblogged it.

Anyway, when Mr. Scott was asked about a "true small pickup" he said:

"We're looking at it. We think we could sell a compact truck that's more like the size of the old Ranger, that gets six or eight more miles per gallon (than a full-size truck), is $5,000 or $6,000 less, and that we could build in the U.S. to avoid the tariff on imported trucks," he says.

We'll sure "they're looking at it," they probably looked at a snow-plow package for the Fiesta before somebody flicked the lights on and sent the Qualudde-crushing Third Shift Ideas Guys home.

But the rest of that statement is pretty specific... thought maybe, just maybe this was a thing Ford was actually "mulling," but after getting in touch with the Ford Trucks Communications Manager if a new small truck was even remotely being considered the answer was stark:

"No. We are continuing to invest in and expand our F-Series lineup for the North American market and are confident that our new F-Series addresses the needs of the U.S. pickup buyer. Additionally, our Transit Connect lineup addresses the needs of buyers looking for utility in a compact size."

I can hear the skeptics already; "Hey, maybe that's what they WANT you to think!" Of course it is, it's the official company line (has been ). And Ford adhering to that is a lot more believable than one executive spilling the company's secret plans at a dinner party with journalists.

Doug Scott might be dreaming up some awesome ideas about mini-trucks, but they're only going to be hauling cargo in his (and our) imagination for the the foreseeable future.

Image: Andrew P. Collins. I'm getting good at PhotoShop, aren't I? Huh? Guys? (PickupTrucks.com's Mark Stehrenberger did a way better illustration, you can see it .)