Ford Motor Company of Southern Africa has announced the start of production of the new 2,0-litre diesel engines that will be used in the Ranger Raptor and other “selected” Ranger and Everest derivatives.
The Blue Oval brand says the engines are being produced on an “all-new, high-tech assembly line” at the Struandale facility in Port Elizabeth. They will power the upcoming Ranger Raptor (being built at the brand’s Silverton plant) as well as some versions of the updated Ranger and Everest that are set to be launched locally in the first half of 2019.
“With the launch of the new diesel engines, the Struandale Engine Plant embarks on a historic new journey, as it almost doubles our combined installed capacity to 250 000 units for our two engine programmes,” said John Cameron, plant manager of the Struandale facility.
Ford says the new engine programme starts off with “low-volume production” for the remainder of 2018, before “ramping up” from early 2019.
The plant will assemble a total of eight versions of the new powerplant, including the twin-turbo example set to be used in the Ranger Raptor, where it will produce 157 kW and 500 N.m. The engines will be used for vehicles in the local market as well as export markets.
Ford says it will continue to build the existing Duratorq TDCi engines (with the plant’s maximum capacity set to increase to 130 000 units from the end of 2018). In addition, the Struandale plant’s machining capacity for these units has increased from an original 220 000 component sets (cylinder head, block and crankshaft) to a peak of up to 280 000 to meet “growing demand”.
