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Blame fuel efficiency requirements[0]. They are based on footprint of the vehicle, and there wasn't a cost effective way of getting the Ranger efficient enough without it costing as much as an F150. Nevermind the fact that the Ranger was already more fuel efficient than the F150, and many people would buy the smaller vehicle if it suited their needs. Instead, efficiency standards made it not practical to build the Ranger.

[0] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-02-19/bigger-pi...

The chicken tax effectively killed foreign competition for light trucks and domestic automakers punted as mid-full size trucks are more profitable.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken_tax

That doesn't seem right. Toyota Tacomas, Nissans, Ford Rangers, Chevy S10s, etc have been popular throughout that period.

The only thing I can think of is emissions mandates that have made the full-size pickups roughly equivalent to the mpg advantage that light trucks used to have.

I wish someone made an actual light truck still. Even the little trucks are monstrous now.

My 85 Toyota would be dwarfed by a modern light truck.

I bet that 85 Toyota would be a lot heavier though.