LONG-TERM FLEET
Blue Oval’s R3bn investment flies the South African flag
Ford’s investment announcement bodes well for the future of Ranger and Everest production writes Mark Smyth
Ford SA’s announcement that it is investing another R3bn into its production facility in Silverton near Pretoria is great news for the company, the industry and for SA. At a time when there are so many negatives, it shows a positive level of confidence. It also shows the popularity of Ford’s Ranger and Everest models, both of which are built at the facility. The investment is mainly for the Ranger of course. In 2017, Ford has sold over 27,000 of them in SA and exported even more, with 5,791 being exported in October alone. Rangers leave the Silverton plant and head to 148 countries, and demand is increasing. The investment is mainly for upgrading in order to increase modernisation on the production lines and increase capacity. That future demand will include the new Ranger Raptor, which will not only be the first official Raptor model to come to SA, but will also be the first Raptor to be built in SA when production starts in 2019. While Ford SA says it is unable to comment, our sou...
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