Production of the all-new, next-gen Ford Ranger is already underway at Ford Thailand Manufacturing, though the mid-size pickup is also produced a a couple of other plants around the globe. The new Ranger won’t launch in Europe or the U.S. until next year, but it’s already on sale in certainly global markets, including Australia. Meanwhile, mass production of the next-gen Ford Ranger will soon be underway at the Silverton Assembly plant in South Africa as well following a $1 billion dollar investment in that facility, according to Engineering News.
The first batch of next-gen Ford Ranger pickups has already been produced at Silverton, an important step in the validation process. Meanwhile, a host of changes have taken place at the plant over the past several months, including a conversion to 35 percent solar power, as well as the addition of a new, in-house stamping plant – the first of its kind – and body shop.
“We have been encouraged by the quality of the components and vehicles produced during this initial TT phase, which has justified the scale of our investment and the mammoth job it required in building completely new facilities, as well as revamping our entire assembly line while continuing to build the current Ranger,” said Ockert Berry, Ford South Africa operations vice president. “We are about to commence with our pre-production runs in preparation for launch later this year.”
Of its $1 billion dollar investment in the Silverton plant, Ford allocated around $614 million for retooling, as well as adding the stamping plant and body shop. That conversion also included the addition of a “skillet system,” which automatically raises or lowers vehicles to the optimum height for each task, taking the height of workers into account, as well as a new frame line and box line.
“The Silverton assembly plant is virtually unrecognizable from 18 months ago, and this transformation has not only allowed us to introduce the latest technologies and quality control systems, but also gave us the opportunity to redesign the flow of the plant for maximum efficiency,” Berry said. “The result is a high-tech facility that compares with the best Ford plants in the world, and will enable us to deliver on the 200,000-unit installed capacity, which is the highest capacity ever for Ford in South Africa.”
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Comments
The current Ranger sold in the USA is the best looking midsize truck, in my opinion, especially the front end styling. The Ranger illustrated in this article is NOT that front end, but rather a squared-off, clumsy copy of other mid-sized trucks. As I plan to buy in the fall (if chip situation is resolved) now I may have to keep my 2000 pickup with 187,000 miles for a while longer …..
That style is the New Ranger Look, I too Do Not care for it, so I ordered a 2022 Ranger and after a 4 1/2 month wait I received my Ranger in mid
-April. So far, very pleased with my 22’Ranger.
Still living under that rock I see. The Ranger has been built in Michigan since the 2019 model year but the next gen will not go into production there until sometime around May of 2023.
Wait. I thought South Africa built all the Rangers for the European market? If they plan to start building the next gen this year why isn’t Europe getting the next gen until next year? Or is it just that full production of the next gen won’t start until really late in 2022?