Ford’s Ranger is one of the best-selling models the brand offers in our market. Here are a few details about the Ford Ranger and its production process.
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The Ranger is sold in over 180 markets worldwide and produced across five production hubs, from the Ford Thailand Manufacturing plant in Thailand to the Silverton Assembly Plant here in South Africa. Throughout 2023, Ford’s Ranger retained second place in its segment’s sales leaderboard. Ford claims that one Ford Ranger leaves the production line every two minutes at the Thailand and Silverton production plants. On these production lines are almost 600 robots purposed to maintain production volume as each chassis takes up to three hours to complete. Additionally, one Ranger consists of more than 2 700 parts. Each Ranger has between 3 000 to 4 000 spot welds and undergoes twelve chemical baths before painting to protect the body against corrosion.
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During the painting process, a single Ranger will receive roughly eight litres of Ford’s 3-Wet High Solids Paint. Following the painting process, Ford states that it inspects each Ranger with a “state-of-the-art” paint scanner, which is capable of detecting defects in the paint smaller than a needlepoint. Ford claims that each Ranger that leaves the production line undergoes up to 1 000 quality confirmation checks before the vehicles are sent to dealerships. One of the tests that the Ranger has to undergo is what Ford calls its “water test”, which consists of the Ranger being hosed down for 20 minutes to emulate the effects of an intense rainstorm. Following the water test, the Ranger is inspected for any leaks or defects in the seals around the vehicle. In the final leg of a Ranger’s production line journey, it will have to endure and pass three test tracks. These tracks are referred to as the Squeak and Rattle track, the High-Speed track, and the Rough Road track.
We have been fortunate to have enter the Silverton facility, get a closer look over here.
Once completed, the Ford Ranger is sent to a dealership either locally or to one of the 180 foreign markets, ready to live up to Ford’s “Built Tough” ethos.