Ford in R3bn Silverton investment
There is strong speculation the next generation Ranger to be built locally
The latest R3bn investment to increase production capacity of the Ford Ranger pick-up in SA made it almost certain the vehicle’s next generation would also be built locally, motor industry insiders said at the weekend. Ford Southern Africa MD Casper Kruger said on Friday that the latest cash injection would raise annual capacity from 110,000 to 127,000 and enable the Silverton, Pretoria, assembly plant to build a new Ranger variant, the Raptor. US motor giant Ford has spent nearly R10bn in SA to make a success of the current Ranger, which was launched in 2011. Most of that has been spent at Silverton, but the company’s Port Elizabeth engine plant has also benefited. Most bakkie generations have a life cycle of about 10 years, meaning a new Ranger is due around 2021. Kruger said increased capacity on the current model would be available from January 2018, and the Raptor would be built from 2019. He insisted the new investment was no guarantee that future Ranger generations would be m...
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