Automotive media in Australia spent the better part of this week driving the new Ford Ranger Raptor through the dust and off-road environs Down Under. All of them had something to say about the diesel engine they’re getting in that part of the world.

Exactly what engine will be powering the Ranger Raptor when it arrives here in North America, assuming it arrives here at all, is still up for debate. The standard Ranger will be powered by a 2.3L EcoBoost inline-four. This mill makes 280 horsepower and 310 lb-ft of torque in the Explorer and 310/350 respectively in the Mustang.

The Ranger Raptor, at least the one sold in Asian-Pacific markets, will be equipped with a 210 horsepower diesel engine. Aussie journos who experienced the engine this week in the truck called it “underdone“, “out of puff “, and “not right for the Raptor“. Hmm.

When reps from the website caradvice.com.au asked about the possibility of a gasoline or diesel six-cylinder making its way between the fenders of a Ranger Raptor, Trevor Worthington, Ford’s vice president of product development for Asia Pacific, had this to say:

“Well, we haven’t looked at that one [referring to a petrol or diesel V6] because as I’ve said this morning, the vast majority of the 200 markets that we sell Ranger, and when I say a vast majority I mean 99 per cent are all diesel markets,” he said. “It’d be like turning up with something that people wouldn’t even consider buying.”

Now, granted, those are words from a Ford official who represents the company in a market halfway around the world from North America. And there are plenty of examples in the past of similar machines being sold in different countries with completely different engines. Still, with automakers increasingly looking to save a buck by consolidating platforms, these words may have an impact on what – if anything – is offered in North America.

As for the rest of the truck, it looks to be just what the doctor ordered, if social media posts and reviews from Oz are any indication.

Rumors abound that the North American market Ranger Raptor (if it happens) will be powered by a gasoline-fueled turbocharged V6, possibly the 2.7L EcoBoost unit currently doing duty in the F-150. That engine makes 325 horsepower and 400lb-ft of torque.

Stay tuned.