Ford lays out R3-billion to build more Rangers and new Raptor

By Stuart Johnston

Ford’s announcement today that it has invested R3-billion to expand its production facilities at its Silverton (Pretoria) plant, comes on the back of the Ranger pick-up being announced as the top-selling vehicle in South Africa for the month of October. And in 2018, Ford South Africa will add the new Ranger Raptor to its production line-up.

The recently-released NAAMSA sales figures (National Association of Automobile Manufacturers, South Africa) revealed that last month the Ford Ranger sold 2 855 units in South Africa, versus the  2 483 Hiluxes sold in the same period.  However, year-to-date, Hilux is still ahead in the sales race, and for the past four decades the Hilux has been the best-selling pick-up in the country. Yet Ford South Africa management insists that its expansion is no way focused on reaching the number one sales spot in South Africa.

 “We remain focused on sales and production targets that we set at the beginning of each year,” says Dr  Casper Kruger, Managing Director of Ford Motor Company for Sub-Sahara Africa. “Our aim is not to produce the number-one selling vehicle, but to improve on what we are already doing.”

It is a feeling echoed by Ockert Berry, Vice President of Operations for Ford Middle east Africa.

“We were remarking just the other day, amongst our management team,  that we never seem to talk about actively reaching for that number one sales slot.”

Berry, who has international experience within the Ford global empire, says that the R3-billion investment includes reconfiguring the production line, to enable the new Ranger Raptor to be built on the same line as the Ranger.

“The new Ranger Raptor, which has a wonderfully distinctive American look, is wider and longer than the Ranger, so this has meant an extensive reconfiguration of the workstations on the line, to enable it to slot in amongst the current Ranger on the line.

"The response to our announcement that Ford will be introducing a Ranger Raptor has been absolutely phenomenal, and we're exceptionally proud to now confirm that this highly anticipated performance model will be assembled in South Africa,"  enthused Casper Kruger. “This is yet another fantastic achievement for our local team, and signals our ability to produce world-class products of the highest calibre."

“The current Ranger programme has been an unprecedented success for Ford since it was launched in 2011, and the company has experienced remarkable growth in Ranger sales and market share, both locally and internationally, with its export programme to over 148 markets in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

“ Following the all-time record deliveries of 10,117 Rangers to local and export customers during September 2017, the Silverton plant  delivered a total of 8,646 units in October. This continues to secure Ford's status as one of the region's leading vehicle manufacturers and a global centre of excellence for the Ford Ranger programme.”

As an exciting new addition to the Ford Performance family, the Ford Ranger Raptor is a purpose-built, desert-racing inspired model that builds on the unrivalled heritage of Ford Performance's legendary F-150 Raptor, the world's most extreme production pickup.

Designed and engineered to deliver an adrenaline-pumping driving experience, the Ford Ranger Raptor sports a “whee-haa”  exterior look that exudes toughness as well as a level of capability and off-road performance, never before seen in this segment.

Speaking at the media function to announce the new investment at the Silverton plant today (November 3rd) , Ockert Berry said that the progress made at the Silverton plant since Ranger production began has been “phenomenal”.  He noted that in the beginning, Ford’s top management was very sceptical about the quality of vehicles produced. But this has changed to the point where the Silverton plant is rated as one of the best in the Ford global empire, as far as the quality of production is concerned.

Berry also noted how pleased he was that the Ranger was doing in some markets where pick-up sales are not in the main stream. “In both England and Germany, our Ranger is number one in the pick-up market segment in those countries.”

Work on the plant upgrade is already well-advanced, and Berry stated that pre-production runs of the new Raptor would commence as early as the second-quarter of 2018, with full production scheduled to start up in August. He noted that some 70 percent of Raptor production would be ear-marked for export.