Ford has announced the official start of production for the segment-defining Ranger pickup truck at its Ford Thailand Manufacturing (FTM) facility to help meet demand across the Asia Pacific region.
The Ranger is also built at Ford’s joint-venture facility, Auto Alliance Thailand (AAT), which remains the company’s main production facility for Ranger in Asia Pacific.
With AAT forecast to operate at or near maximum capacity for the foreseeable future, Ford invested an additional US$186 million in the FTM facility to allow for increased Ranger production.
The Ranger is Ford’s best-selling pickup truck in the Asia Pacific region. This includes being the best-selling pickup truck overall in New Zealand, Vietnam, Taiwan, Cambodia and Myanmar, as well as the second-best selling pickup in Australia, Malaysia and the Philippines.
As the No.3 pickup truck in Thailand, the Ranger has continued to increase segment share since the all-new Ranger was launched in 2011. This includes capturing its highest ever share of the segment in August at more than 10%.
“The incremental Ranger volume will allow us to meet strong customer demand across the region for this Built Ford Tough truck,” said Mark Kaufman, president, Ford ASEAN. “Our additional investment in FTM also underscores our long-term confidence in Thailand, including the world-class quality being delivered by our workforce.”
Ford is one of the largest automotive investors in Thailand, having invested a total of more than US$2.7 billion between its wholly-owned and joint-venture manufacturing facilities, and currently employs about 10,000 people in Thailand.
Hirunya Suchinai, secretary-general, Thailand Board of Investment, said, “On behalf of the Thailand Board of Investment, I would like to congratulate Ford Motor Company on this auspicious occasion. Ford continues to play an important role in the ongoing development of our automotive industry, and their latest milestone will help further strengthen Thailand’s position as a leading automotive manufacturing and export hub in the region.”
