Silverton Assembly Plant Builds 500,000th Ford Ranger
Silverton Assembly Plant employees celebrate production of the 500,000th Ford Ranger
The Ford Motor Company Silverton Assembly Plant in Pretoria, South Africa, achieved the milestone of 500,000 Rangers manufactured in August. Production on the current-generation Ford Ranger kicked off in 2011, and the ceremonial half-millionth truck to roll off the line was a Wildtrack 3.2 Double Cab in the appropriately named Pride Orange hue.
“The current Ford Ranger has been a remarkable success story for Ford Motor Company of Southern Africa, and we are delighted to have reached the 500,000 mark for this vehicle program,” said Ockert Berry, VP Operations, Ford Middle East and Africa.
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“Ford invested more than [$211.8 million USD (3 billion rand] in our local operations for the launch of the Ranger in 2011 to cater for the South African market and exports to over 148 markets in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. We followed this up with a further [$211.8 million USD (3 billion rand] investment in 2017 to further expand our production capacity to meet the growing worldwide demand for the Ranger.”
The Ranger is a unique example in the light commercial vehicle segment in that it ostensibly foregoes the expected long lifecycle. In 2015, just four years after the start of production, Silverton Assembly put forth a significantly updated Ranger that included improved styling and more technologies. This emphasis on keeping the product fresh has led to the Ranger ranking as one of the best-selling LCVs in South Africa and enjoying significant sales success in the Middle East, Africa, and Europe.
Ford is set to continue that trend of forward progress next year with the launch of the first-ever Ford Ranger Raptor. Production of that Ranger Raptor is already underway in Thailand.
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