Published on October 7th, 2011 | by Daniel Sherman Fernandez
0Ford Celebrates Production of All-New Ranger
Thailand production of Ford Motor Company’s next-generation, global compact pickup truck, the All-New Ford Ranger, kicked off yesterday during a ceremony at AutoAlliance Thailand (AAT) in Rayong. Alan Mulally, president and CEO, Ford Motor Company, and Joe Hinrichs, president of the company’s Asia Pacific and Africa region, were both on hand to lead the company’s celebration. “We are honored to begin to serve our customers around the world with the all-new Ford Ranger,” Mulally said.
“Customers tell us they want a full family of cars, utilities and trucks with best-in-class quality, fuel-efficiency, safety and smart technology and of course the very best value. The Ford Ranger is the first global pickup truck to be built using all of our global resources under our One Ford plan, and it shows our commitment to making vehicles that customers really want and value,” he added.
Thailand and AAT will serve as one of three global production and export hubs for the All-New Ford Ranger – the others being South Africa and Argentina – which will be sold in 180 markets worldwide, making it one of the widest-reaching Ford vehicles globally. An additional US$350 million was invested last year to upgrade the state-of-the-art pickup truck manufacturing facility at AAT, which has served as a global production and export hub for the Ford Ranger since 1997.
“The new investment at AAT underscores the strategic importance of our Thailand operations in helping drive our ASEAN and Asia Pacific growth strategy. And the All-New Ranger represents the next definitive and successful step we are taking under our global One Ford plan,” explained Hinrichs.
The All-New Ranger is the first of eight new vehicles that Ford plans to introduce to ASEAN markets over the next five years, as the company aims to significantly expand its showroom lineup and introduce the Ford brand to many new customer segments. The ASEAN opportunity is an important component of Ford’s aggressive Asia Pacific and Africa growth strategy that will introduce 50 new products and powertrains by 2015.