Bill Ford backs Aussie Ranger team

The executive chairman of the Ford Motor Company, William (Bill) Clay Ford Jr., has predicted a substantial ongoing role for the company’s engineering and design operations in Australia, but also admitted Donald Trump’s tariffs could have an as yet unknown impact.

In Australia to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the establishment of Ford in Australia, the great-grandson of the company’s founder, Henry Ford, was full of praise for the local R&D business that has been responsible for the development of two generations of the Ford Ranger ute and its Everest spin-off.

He stated his belief the operation – which has survived and become Australia’s biggest automotive employer in the wake of Ford, Holden and Toyota’s manufacturing shutdowns last decade – would continue.

“I don’t see why not,” he replied when asked if the current level of engineering and design capability would be maintained in Australia.

But when the potential impact of the Trump tariffs were raised, he admitted the impact on the Australian operations were unknown.

“It’s way too early tell,” he said.

“We just have to take a step back and realise the footprint we have around the world is a huge advantage for us and I don’t think this changes any of that.”

The Trump administration has applied a 25 per cent tariff on all vehicles coming into the USA and will apply a further tariff on automotive parts from May 3.

The tariffs are designed to encourage auto brands to onshore their manufacturing within the borders of the USA rather than import vehicles for sale.

Well before Trump was re-elected let alone imposed tariffs, it had been speculated Ford was planning to take the development of the next-gen Ranger to North America because it was going to share a new architecture with the Ford F-150.

Whether that transpires or not, Ford was clear in his belief the Australian operation – which includes the Broadmeadows and Geelong facilities and the You Yangs proving ground – had an ongoing place in Ford’s global development structure.

“We just launched the [Ranger] Super Duty as you know and that’s amazing and there will be lots more to come for Australia,” he told a media scrum on the sidelines of a public celebration at the Melbourne showgrounds last Friday.

“One great thing about this team here is they have risen to every challenge they have ever had and they continue to knock it out of the park and I expect they will do so in the future.

“Look, we have so much opportunity in front of us and we have made Australia a centre of excellence for Ford. They have done a great job; just look at the sales results for Ranger and Everest.

“I think Ranger now is sold in 180 different countries, which is incredible. This is a great team here and they will have opportunity in the future.”

Ford struck a positive note about how well the automotive giant could cope with a protectionist US economic policy.

“We have the largest American footprint of any OEM and that puts us in pretty good shape relative to many others,” he said.

“But I keep reminding our management team of this; we have been around 122 years and in 122 years around the world we have gone through every kind of political regime, every kind of political turmoil, great depressions, and we have always come out of it in great shape.

“I am not counting today [Trump tariffs] in this, but I have been through nine major crises in my career and each time it felt existential. And each time we emerge from it and carry on and go to new heights.

“This will take some adjusting to, for sure.

“We are still working through all the implications of this because as you can imagine, this has tails well into our supply chain all around the world.

“We have the largest American footprint, we employ the most Americans, we make the most vehicles in America – it really puts us in pretty good shape.

“There is still a kind of a TBD [to be determined] for us on some of the finer points. But we are going to work very closely with the administration.”

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