Ford announced late last year that it was investing $580 million into the Ford Pacheco Assembly Plant in Argentina to prepare it for 2023 Ford Ranger production. The Pacheco plant assembles the Ford Ranger for Latin American markets, with 70 percent of its output destined for export markets. Now, the automaker has announced that the plant’s remodel is underway following a five-week shutdown in March and April to complete the first wave of structural changes.
Aside from the structural reforms taking place in Pacheco’s assembly, stamping, bodywork, and paint plants, the project involves the installation of new equipment including high-speed presses, new automatic cells, 338 welding and handling robots, completely new engine and chassis assembly lines, and new ceilings, floors, and LED lighting.
While all of this work proceeds, Pacheco is still assembling the current-gen Ford Ranger, and in fact, recently increased the pickup’s output to 30 percent of its pre-pandemic level as a result of strong demand. That bump required Ford to hire an additional 256 workers, in addition to the 323 it added last year.
In North America, the Ranger is produced at the Ford Michigan Assembly Plant, along with the Ford Bronco, with which it shares the Ford T6 Platform. In recent months, we’ve learned quite a bit about the 2023 Ford Ranger, including the fact that it will be sold as a plug-in hybrid model that pairs an electric motor with Ford’s 2.3L EcoBoost I-4 gasoline engine to produce a combined 270 kW (362 horsepower) and 680 Nm (501 pound-feet) of torque.
We first spied a 2023 Ford Ranger prototype back in January, followed by a next-gen Ranger Tremor prototype just a few weeks later, as well as a left-hand-drive Ranger Raptor prototype, signaling the model’s long-anticipated arrival in North America, and the 2023 Ranger’s interior.
The next-gen 2023 Ranger is expected to launch in 2022 for the 2023 model year, and will reportedly continue to ride on the Ford T6 platform, like the current model and the 2021 Ford Bronco, albeit with some modifications.
We’ll have much more on the next-gen Ranger very soon, so be sure and subscribe to Ford Authority for more Ford Ranger news and around-the-clock Ford news coverage.
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