Moses Akaigwe
As the upgraded new Ford Ranger launched recently to the Sub-Sahara Africa motoring press in South Africa begins to drive into various markets in the region, it is expected to carry on with the remarkable success streak of the outgoing model.
The new Ranger is also a strategic product in the brand’s drive to enhance its position in the Sub-Sahara Africa region, including Nigeria, where Ford’s partner, Coscharis Motors Limited, operates an assembly plant.
Giving this hint at the venue of the press launch in George, South Africa, Managing Director of Ford South Africa and Ford Sub-Saharan Africa, Neale Hill, assured that the updated Ranger pick-up {bakkie in South Africa} would also be assembled at the Ford plant inaugurated by Coscharis Motors in October, 2017.
“When we were building the Ford plant in Nigeria, we were looking forward to having a good volume of production. Nobody had expected the present economic situation…,” Hill told the Daily Sun in an interview.
He was, however, optimistic that the market would bustle again, and that the coming of the new Ranger would stand Ford and Coscharis Motors in good stead in the Nigerian market.
The Managing Director and other Ford officials at the press launch attended by journalists from 15 countries said the out-going generation of Ranger has been a phenomenal success in the light commercial vehicles segment, both in South Africa and internationally.
The Ranger, the Managing Director said, is the current leader in the double-cab segment in the local {South African} market.
Hill further explained that the investment of billions of Rands to operations at the Silverton Assembly Plant in Pretoria made it possible for Ford to produce a wider range and higher volume of vehicles, including the Ranger, for the South African market and export to {other} African and European markets.
Last year, international demand for the trend-setting Ranger pickup reached an all-time high, with the Silverton plant shipping a total of 68 364 units to export markets – a substantial 16.2 per cent increase compared to 2017.
Combined Ranger production for the domestic and export markets for 2018 ended on 98, 505 units – about 8 383 more than the previous year’s. This is the highest annual production volume to date for Ford’s South African operations, with December 2018 reaching a new monthly record of 11 091 combined Ranger sales.
The bulk of Ranger units exported from Port Elizabeth were destined for European markets.
“It was an extremely busy and successful year for our export business in 2018, as we attained our highest-ever production volume for the Ford Ranger, and boosted our export volumes by 16.2 percent to retain our undisputed leadership of the light commercial vehicle (LCV) export segment, said Hill”