Ford to spin-off more Ranger variants

Ford Australia is set to spin-off more variants of its Ranger utility, with a Raptor-style off-roader included in the list of possibilities.

The Blue Oval’s Australian marketing chief, Lew Echlin, has indicated to motoring.com.au that the local arm is investigating more ways to leverage the utility including factory-backed accessory packages, having soared to the top of the 4x4 utility charts in 2016.

“Ranger right now has already achieved 4x4 leadership in four of the first seven months of this year,” he said.

“It’s ahead of our plans and I think Wildtrak being the most iconic Ranger has established itself as the gold standard in the pick-up segment.”

With buyers tending towards Ford’s flagship dual-cab models, Echlin now wants to concentrate on value-added limited-edition variants, a go-to strategy of sorts among popular marques.

Ford Australia will launch the very first of those this month with the new XLS Special Edition (pictured), which packages added specification and cosmetic upgrades over and above the regular XLS double-cab.

“In terms of the product lifecycle that [Ranger] is on and the freshening cycle of it, it has the power to surprise,” he said.

“This month … we have our XLS special vehicle package that’s coming in and is an example of everything we can do in vehicle personalisation all at once. It comes with things like the towbar and the kit bar over the tray, as well as a bed liner with a different look that dealers are excited about.

“The pack has been nine or 10 months in the planning and we are launching a substantial campaign behind it to keep the Ranger brand as fresh as possible and also to flex our ‘vehicle personalisation’ muscles.”

Asked specifically whether a Raptor-style off-road variant is in the works – similar to that offered on the US-Spec Ford F150 – Echlin continued: “We don’t discuss future product plans, but with special vehicle packages we expect to keep the special vehicle package pipeline on Ranger very robust.”

Talk of a beefed-up Ranger variant will no doubt pique the curiosity of Ranger-philes, but a bigger surprise may soon materialise. Earlier this year, Ford quietly touted the idea of a muscled-up Ranger Raptor eventually joining the Australian line-up.

But unlike the accessory packs offered locally, the flagship would be fettled first hand by Ford Performance, the same team behind the Fiesta ST, Focus ST and Focus RS.