Ranger fuels Aussie pride

Production of the Falcon and Territory may have terminated last year, but according to Graeme Whickman, Ford Australia’s President and CEO, designers and engineers based at the company’s Design Centre in Melbourne still have plenty to smile about.

Speaking at the launch of Ford's updated Transit Custom medium van, Mr Whickman said there was a palpable sense of pride in having created the global Ranger platform, which is now sold in the majority of markets around the world.

"When you get a group of Australians – and there's around 1700 designers and engineers between Geelong and Broadmeadows – and they come together to work on a product like Ranger or Everest and they lead the global development, there's a sense of pride there when you see the product you've essentially helped shape and brought to market do well," he said.

Mr Whickman said Ranger sales are strong, critical reviews are positive and the nameplate is close to receiving the highest customer satisfaction score of any Ford vehicle sold in Australia. He added Ford management is giving extra kudos to the pickup as it is close to topping the segment's dominant top seller, Toyota's HiLux.

"There are lots of ways of looking at it, but universally at the moment there's a sort of vibrancy, excitement and a sense of pride around the fact that it's doing well, that it's taking on a very established competitor [Toyota's HiLux] and proven that it's worthy of an opportunity to purchase," he said.

"And the wonderful thing is, we're now seeing so many repeat purchases, which is a lovely endorsement."

"I don't have a great deal to comment because the program, the team here, are putting together a vehicle that goes out to around 180-plus markets – the addition of any American business is just additive, it doesn't detract from what the team is doing here and what it will continue to do," he revealed.

"At the end of the day, essentially you've got thousands of engineers [here] who are close to the market, close to the product, and they can see the fruits of their labour at the same time.

"That's kind of like a designer's or an engineer's dream. They're not just doing something where they see the evidence in some other market – and they do that too, they work on other products that don't get sold here.

"Here they get to touch and feel and chat to their neighbour and say, 'I designed this piece' or 'I designed that piece'. That's pretty cool."

Mr Whickman also said he thought it was unlikely the Ranger would impact on Ford's monster F Series sales in US.

"I'm not really the man to answer that as I'm not in America, but clearly, having worked in Canada for almost four years, there are distinct markets in terms of segments," he explained.

"Obviously other competitors have decided that's an area they want to put products into as well, like Toyota and GM, so I think it would be safe to say they're complementary."

Bronco rebirth
The recent announcement of the imminent return of Ford's Bronco in 2020 has caused quite a stir on the international automotive scene, but Mr Whickman was tight-lipped regarding any details on the four-wheel drive SUV, or whether we'll see it heading our way.

"That's all we've got at the moment, we don't have any specificity, but that [the Bronco] has an iconic feel to it and that's why it's evoked such a response," he said.

"It's garnering a lot of interest and will continue to do so, and as we fill in with more details I think we'll get more excited, but I have nothing much more on that to say.

After a 20-year hiatus, sources close to motoring.com.au confirmed late last year that the Bronco (2004 concept model shown) will be making a return, with Australia to play a key role in the model's design and development.