Ford Ranger hits the beat

The Ford Ranger will replace the discontinued Holden Colorado as the divi-van of choice for police in Victoria.

In a new fleet deal announced today, the Ford Australia will supply Victoria Police with 200 new divisional vans annually, based on the Ford Ranger XLT Super Cab and Dual Cab.

The purpose-built divi-vans will replace the previous fleet of 290 Holden Colorados supplied from February 2018 and the homegrown Holden Ute and Ford Falcon Ute previously employed by Victoria Police.

The new deal with Ford is part of the renewal of the Victoria Police divisional van fleet, which traditionally numbers about 2000 vehicles, over the next two years.

It comes as the Ford Ranger became Australia’s top-selling new vehicle overall last month, and as Ford prepares to reveal its all-new, Australian-developed Ranger ahead of its global release in 2022.

“Our 2500-strong team of designers, engineers and auto specialists have the expertise to not only lead the development of global vehicles like Ranger, but also tailor them to meet the unique requirements of organisations like Victoria Police,” said Ford Australia president and CEO, Andrew Birkic.

The Ford Ranger divi-van was designed and developed by Ford Australia’s growing Special Vehicle Engineering (SVE) team, which works with a number of large fleet businesses – from telecommunications to forestry and other emergency services around Australia – to tailor Ford vehicles to suit their operational requirements.

Both the Ford Ranger XLT Super Cab and Dual Cab, which is the most popular variant of Ford’s best-selling model, will be fitted with a self-contained two-prisoner transfer capsule designed and manufactured by Centaur.

It has a shelf-life of more than 10 years and features both air-conditioning and a video camera, allowing Victoria Police officers to record and monitor persons in custody, as well as transport them safely and comfortably.

Apart from conducting climate testing to verify the effectiveness of the capsule’s auxiliary air-conditioning system, Ford SVE undertook extensive electrical work to facilitate the fitment of operational equipment behind the front seats of both utes.

Ford SVE also subjected the new divisional vans to physical testing at its You Yangs Proving Ground near Geelong to ensure it was fit for purpose, including both brake and handling tests.

In addition to the Ranger divi-vans, Ford SVE is working with Victoria Police on the design and development of Ford Ranger 4x4s for off-road and other specific operational duties.

“Ford has a long history of working with emergency services and fleet customers,” said Simone Crankshaw, SVE Ranger and Everest Program Management Supervisor.

“Our relationship with Victoria Police stretches all the way back to the 1959 Ford Mainline divisional van, and Ford Australia is honoured to have been selected by Victoria Police to supply its new fleet of divisional vans.

“Design and development of the Ford Ranger is led in Australia, and this Ford Ranger-based divisional van offers Victoria Police high levels of active and passive safety and the peace of mind that it can handle whatever is thrown at it. We’re positive Victoria Police officers will enjoy driving it.”

Of course, like all new Ford Rangers, the divi-van comes with a five-star ANCAP safety rating and key safety features including autonomous emergency braking (AEB) with pedestrian detection, lane-keeping and six airbags, providing VicPol with “a stable and safe vehicle with which to patrol Victorian streets”, said Ford.