New Ranger to drive Ford Australia in 2012

Move over Falcon and Territory. The Ford Ranger pick-up is likely to become the savior of Ford Australia in more ways than one.

The all-new pick-up due in showrooms from next month is expected to quickly displace the locally-made Falcon and Territory as Ford Australia’s top-selling model.

Meanwhile the local design and engineering of Ranger – a four-year project that will be ongoing as the vehicle gets updated in the coming years – has delivered an estimated $700 million in research and development investment from its parent company in Detroit, helping Broadmeadows’ bottom line.

“It’s a significant investment, one of the most significant in Australia for sure. What we export around the world in this case is the [engineering] capability,” the president and CEO of Ford Australia, Bob Graziano, told media at the launch of the vehicle last week (with announcements embargoed from being reported until today).

The Australian-designed and engineered but internationally-made Ranger (assembled in factories in Argentina, South Africa and Thailand, where Australian vehicles will be sourced from) will be sold in 180 countries, more than any other model in the Ford world.

The Ranger nameplate has already outsold Ford’s two locally-made heroes on one occasion, during the June 2011 end of financial year sales.

And the Ranger is currently the third-biggest seller in the class behind the Toyota Hilux and Nissan Navara and ahead of the Mitsubishi Triton and Holden Colorado.

But the all-new Ranger is expected to top the Ford sales charts more consistently – and mount a stronger challenge to class rivals – once the full line-up rolls out: crew cab in October, supercab in November and regular cab in December.

“We have high expectations for the Ranger. I think it’s going to be one of our top nameplates,” said Graziano.

“I think the vehicle will perform very well relative to key competitors … but we don’t talk about sales projections. The [pick-up] market is continuing to grow … and if we take [market] share that’s all right with me.”

When asked if the new Ranger would have more appeal because of its local development, Graziano said: “I don’t know how much customers actually look at what is developed or produced in a particular market as a key motivator for sales. But they certainly care about the capability of the vehicle.”

Beth Donovan, Ford Australia’s vice president of marketing, sales and service, said the Ranger’s switch to becoming Ford’s top-seller would be inevitable given the shift in popularity of pick-ups, now the third biggest market behind Light and Small cars – and at least twice as popular as the classes that the Falcon and Territory compete in.

“Pick-up is 15 per cent [share] of the industry now, medium SUV is 8 per cent and large car … is 6 per cent. So if you look at it that way, the momentum is certainly there, based on what the market forces are. We will be more than prepared to meet the demand.”

The Ranger comes at a critical time for Ford Australia. The company is on track to recording its weakest sales result in more than a decade – its third year in a row of sales below 100,000. Ford last led the Australian market between 1995 and 1997.

But the company is expected to post a turnaround in 2012, with 85 per cent of the model range all-new or updated.

“Our desire is to continue to grow our business here,” Graziano said. “New Territory is off to a phenomenal start, it’s been the number one seller in the medium SUV class for the past three months in a row.

“But we’re looking for continued strength in Falcon, Territory and new Focus. We feel pretty good about how we’re growing this year and we’ll have a full portfolio of [new] product for 2012.”

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