Factory-fit Ford Ranger and Everest accessories to reduce wait times

Ford has doubled down on its efforts to reduce delivery delays in Australia by establishing a new ‘vehicle personalisation centre’ in Thailand, where popular genuine accessories will be ‘factory fitted’ within two days of a Ranger or Everest rolling off the nearby production line.

The centre will initially offer two variants of the stylish canopy, a commercial canopy and a manual roller shutter before expanding its operation down the track with more accessories and responsibility for future special-edition Ford Ranger and Everest models.

Ford Australia says fitting accessories immediately after a vehicle rolls off the production line will reduce delivery times on its two most popular models by avoiding often time-sapping dealer installations and making better use of idle time before shipping.

The centre is being run in collaboration with Ford’s F-150 remanufacturing partner RMA Automotive and is located near the port where the vehicles depart for Australia, meaning the accessories can essentially be installed en route to the docks.

“The new vehicle personalisation centre (VPC) is the next step at giving our customers the customised vehicles they want, straight out of the box,” said Ford International Markets Group vehicle personalisation director, Michael Karageorgiou.

“The VPC will complement the Ford dealer network by providing us the opportunity to offer customers a faster and seamless one-stop-shop solution for all their personalisation needs.

“Customers can now order select accessories through a Ford dealer knowing that their vehicle will arrive in Australia with the accessories fitted and ready to go.”

Customers can order VPC-fitted options from this month ahead of first vehicle deliveries arriving in May 2024, based on a March production start.

It’s worth noting that canopies installed at the VPC will not be compatible with the Ford Ranger Platinum or Raptor.

The announcement follows Ford’s recent three-year lease of the Grand Quest vehicle carrier, which has delivered more than 9000 vehicles since the new arrangement was announced in August last year.

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