Ford Ranger gets Aussie-made parts boost

The Ford Ranger is built in Thailand, but an expanded line-up of new accessories soon to be available through the Blue Oval dealer network for the top-selling ute will be manufactured in Australia.

As reported exclusively by carsales earlier this month, Tickford Automotive is being recruited by Ford Australia to bolster its line-up of accessories for the Ford Ranger ute and its Ford Everest SUV spin-off.

Launched in 2016, the Ford specialist has traditionally had many of its accessory designs such as side steps, sports bars and interior items manufactured in Thailand and China. Both countries are common sources for automotive aftermarket parts.

But since 2020 Tickford has been shifting as many parts as possible back to local production.

“For me it’s been a no-brainer,” Tickford Automotive chief operating officer Andrew Gilbert told carsales. “Particularly if you’ve got an uptick in sales and you need to increase supply you don’t have this massive lead time we used to have.

“Obviously, you’ve got material sourcing and production, but you’ve got the shipping time as well.

“Shipping issues at the moment are horrendous. Freight costs have also gone up enormously. It’s all COVID-related.”

The Aussie manufacturing shift won’t only relate to the Ford deal but also aids Tickford’s own line-up of packs and individual accessories offered for the Ranger, Ranger Raptor, Everest and four-cylinder and V8 Ford Mustang sports cars.

Gilbert explained the shift to Australian manufacture not only shortened supply lines and times but also aided product quality and development.

“We are not a cheap product and we offer an OEM [original equipment manufacturer] level of warranty across all of our products. You can look at a piece that looks exactly the same as one of our pieces that is miles away in quality,” he said.

“We test to an OE level and [when parts were being made overseas] I didn’t think we had enough control over that process.

“Once you have got the process right in terms of things like coatings, then it starts to open up the opportunity for other products.

“As well, with COVID, you can’t get on a plane and just go and see someone. As good as Zoom is, there is nothing like just being there and being able to put your eyes and hands on the product.”

Gilbert praised the capabilities and response of local suppliers, some of whom had committed to investments in facilities to support their Tickford orders.

“There is an awful lot of engineering nous in Australia. Even 10 years ago you wouldn’t have thought there would be local suppliers here capable of making that here,” he said.

“But they have found a way of doing it really well.”

Not every Tickford component has been moved back to local manufacture. For instance, alloy wheels are still made offshore and Tickford receives Roush performance parts from the east coast of the US.  

Local manufacturing aligns with local development, as Tickford has always designed as many parts and pieces as possible in-house.

There is substantial engineering talent and fast prototyping capability within the business, much of it best known for working on the related Supercars team, Tickford Racing.