Ford Motor Co. said Monday that it is bringing back the Ranger midsize pickup, once the product of its former massive factory in St. Paul’s Highland Park neighborhood.

The last Ranger rolled off the assembly line at the St. Paul plant in 2011, when Ford stopped selling it in North America; a made-in-Thailand version is still sold in other parts of the world. The new Rangers and another resurrected Ford name, the Bronco, a 4×4 sport utility vehicle, are to be manufactured at Ford’s Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne, Mich.

The Bronco was discontinued 20 years ago. The Ranger is to go on the market in 2019, the Bronco in 2020.

The news was announced at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit.

Their return is motivated by the success of the Colorado pickup from Chevy and the Canyon from GMC, prompting a reassessment at Ford.

“Ranger is for truck buyers who want an affordable, functional, rugged and maneuverable pickup,” Joe Hinrichs, Ford’s president of the Americas, said in a statement. “Bronco will be a no-compromise midsize 4×4 utility for thrill seekers who want to venture way beyond the city.” Related Articles St. Paul council approves mayor’s basic-income project for poor families

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The 130-acre St. Paul auto plant off Ford Parkway and Cleveland Avenue opened in 1926 to assemble Model T’s. At one point, the St. Paul plant was producing 20 percent of Ford’s trucks, working two 10-hour shifts, according to the book “The Ford Century in Minnesota” published last year by Brian McMahon. In 1990, the Twin Cities plant turned out 164,000 Rangers and F-series trucks, averaging 900 units per day, according to McMahon.

When it closed, the plant employed some 800 people, but many others had taken buyouts over the years as rumors of the closing loomed.

The plant has since been demolished, and Ford is in the process of redeveloping the site. It eventually could be home to a new St. Paul neighborhood overlooking the Mississippi River.

This story contains reports from the Los Angeles Times.