While Ford arguably emerged from the Great Recession with its best product line and reputation in decades, the automaker wasn’t totally unscratched. Among the sacrifices CEO Alan Mulally made to stay competitive was shuttering the mid-level Mercury brand and ending production of the Ford Ranger, one of the few competitors left in the midsize truck market. But that market had become so small, that Ford felt it no longer needed to keep for the handful of annual sales.

It’s funny how fast things can change though. The Detroit News is reporting this morning that Ford is in talks with the UAW to bring back the Ranger, which would be built at the Wayne Stamping and Assembly Plant.

That factory currently builds the Ford C-Max and Focus, though production of both of those cars is likely heading south into Mexico, where lower wages allow a higher profit margin on smaller cars. While the American Ranger ended with the 2012 model year, a much different global truck using the Ranger name is still produced in Thailand for sale just about everywhere except North America. However, executives have repeatedly said that the global Ranger was only about 10% smaller than our F-150, and the market for midsize trucks just isn’t there.

Yet increasingly Americans seem to drawn to smaller, less-capable trucks, as most regular people don’t necessarily need 8,000 pounds of towing capacity, but could really use the utility of a pickup. Despite low gas prices, many people are still concerned about fuel economy, and the Ford F-150 hasn’t delivered the range-topping efficiency some had hoped for. A smaller, lighter Ranger with an EcoBoost four-banger under the hood could deliver on the hype though, while also making high-margin pickups more appealing to a size-and-budget conscious group of buyers.

While the midsize truck market is still small, there’s a growing interest in reviving, especially among younger buyers. With GM rolling out a pair of well-received competitors in the form of the Chevy Colorado and GMC Canyon, it seems Ford has finally reconsidered its stance on a new Ranger.